What Family Means
by wolftez
Summary: Connor is ten years old when he goes to live with Hank. The life he finds there reroutes the entire trajectory of his future. [Foster family AU]
1. When Hank (really) Met Connor

Family, to Connor, meant something a little different than to most children his age.

He saw the other kids at school who came riding to school in their parents big, shiny cars, jumping out of the backseat excitedly as they waved goodbye to their parents. They called them _Mom_ and _Dad_ and said their _I love you_ 's before leaving them behind for the day.

Connor watched dejectedly out of the window from the backseat of Hank's beat up old car that noisily revved along the road as the rain poured down, the droplets smattering hard against the window pane.

Hank brought the car to a jerky halt and cursed as he smacked a hand down against the steering wheel. "Jesus Christ, the drop-off lane is for _drop_ _-_ _offs_ , it's not a fucking parking spot."

Connor's heart had started to pump rapidly as he realized they'd reached the school already. He started when a soft pressure pressed against the hand he had setting on the empty middle seat. Kara was sitting beside him and had placed her warm hand over his, offering him a small smile.

"Relax," she said in her soft voice. "You're so tense." Her hand left his to squeeze his shoulders which were very rigid, he suddenly noticed.

Kara was Connor's only friend at the moment. When he first came to live with Hank a few months ago, she was the first person who had made him smile, and that had been about a week into his stay. She had showed him the ropes of how life was going to be now, living with a foster parent, and she'd said that as far as foster parents went, Hank was the best she'd ever had.

There was another boy who lived with them named Markus, but he had a very different nature than Kara. He was nice to Connor, but he was also a little more serious and had a sarcastic humor that Connor wasn't very attuned to. He was the same age as Connor and Kara, but he seemed much older in Connor's eyes.

Kara let on a little bit more about Markus when they were alone: how he came from a nice, suburban family who lived on the wealthier side of Detroit. His parents had died in a car accident about two years ago, and Markus had been lucky to come from that same crash with his life. He hadn't come out unchanged, though, and the physical changes were more or less unseeable to those who didn't know it was there.

A new leg from the knee cap down, Kara had explained, because it'd been crushed by the passenger seat reeling back. His right ear drum had also suffered in the crash, and now his hearing was only to 25% in that ear.

For both of these injuries, none of it was visible to the average person. Markus did have one blue eye and one green, and he had thought that was also part of the crash, but Kara said that he was just born that way. Connor thought that was pretty rad.

As for Kara, hers was a simpler story, but also more sad in his opinion. She was orphaned as a toddler, and Kara didn't know exactly what happened there. No one told her, and if she really wanted to know in the future, Hank had said he'd tell her all about it when he felt she was old enough.

She'd been through the mill and had gotten her fair share of foster parents who'd looked after her until they tired of playing house or for whatever reason, and then they'd sent her back to the orphanage. Kara had said when Hank stopped by and picked her up to take her home for the first time, he told her she'd never have to go back again.

And, so far, for the past three years, that had stayed true.

When Connor first arrived three months ago, he didn't know what to expect. He'd been in the orphanage all his life, and this was the first time social services had placed him with a family. Initially, he'd been scared; the orphanage was his home, and while it wasn't always the most welcoming or friendliest place, it was still his—it was all he knew.

He'd heard stories and seen the returning of faces of kids who'd been placed in homes and then sent back months later. If they just ended up back in the orphanage, then what was the point of leaving to live with strangers in the first place?

Hank didn't seem like a bad guy. Connor didn't get the warm welcome Kara had talked about getting, but Hank was never mean with him. If anything, he always seemed a bit distant, as if he didn't really want to get to know who Connor was. He didn't know if this was better than the counselors who used to ask him a million questions about himself, or worse. Kara also thought it was strange how Hank wasn't as warm to Connor as he was to Kara or Markus, and she'd secretly promised him that she'd get to the bottom of it.

That had been a month ago.

Hank beat his hand on the steering wheel now as the parents parked in front of him in the drop-off lane still hadn't moved. "Goddamn it, I'm going in there and telling those—"

"Just leave it, Hank," Markus said from the front seat, unbuckling his seatbelt in the process. "You don't want to be late to the office again. You know what Fowler will say if you show up late one more time this month." Then, Marcus put on his best impression of Hank's boss. _"Goddamn it, Hank, this is the fifth time this month. Do you know how thick your disciplinary fol—"_

"Hey, watch your language," Hank cut in, but he fell back against his seat in defeat.

Kara unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned forward in her seat to squish in between the driver and passenger seats. "Markus and Connor and I can go in and tell the principal about this. Don't worry, Hank. We can do this for you because you know Markus is right."

Hank eyed Kara for a moment before relenting, nodding his head at her. "All right, all right. I know I'm wrong when the two ten-year-olds sound more reasonable than I do."

"I'm eleven," Markus said.

"Your birthday was a month ago, _excuse me_ for forgetting," Hank said, raising his eyebrows in amusement.

"Yeah, yeah, just don't forget to pick us up again," Markus said, and as he let himself out of the car, Connor saw a half-smile on the kid's face.

Hank picked up a dirty napkin and tossed it after Markus. "That was one time. Let me be human for a day without bringing it up all the time."

Kara giggled as she opened her door. "I don't think he'll ever forgive you for making him miss the new Spongebob episode that came on that day. It was a special and it only aired once for the holiday."

Hank was about to retort, but Kara had already shut her door. Hank sighed and cut his eyes to Connor, who still had yet to leave the safety of the car.

"You waiting for something, son?"

Connor ignored him and stared out the window once more, glancing and analyzing all the kids who went inside. If he could just avoid one of those faces today, then he'd be okay. Maybe Gavin would be sick today and his mom would make him stay home.

He could hope.

"Hey," Hank said again, and this time he snapped his fingers. Connor turned to him. "I gotta go, kid, so you'd better—"

"Please don't make me," Connor said quietly, and it was the first time he'd asked a favor from Hank since his time living with the man.

Hank's eyebrows rose at the request before he narrowed his eyes. "What's wrong?"

Connor didn't want to ask again, he just didn't have the strength for it. Lucky for him, Hank was in too much of a hurry to fight him on the matter. After a hasty sigh, he rolled the passenger window down and called out to Kara who was waiting by the car for Connor.

"I don't think Connor's feeling too hot. You go on ahead without him."

Kara furrowed her brows, and after a quick glance at Connor, she nodded to Hank and waved to Connor before running off into the building behind Markus.

"Jesus," Hank said, before pulling away from the curb rather hastily. Once they cleared out of the school parking lot, Hank floored it, Connor's head hitting the headrest with the force Hank put the car into. They drove awhile in silence, and the tightening pit in his stomach that had formed at the thought of facing Gavin today had receded.

Connor didn't understand why Hank complied with his request so easily. He'd never gotten anything with a simple ask without being asked for something in return, like doing more chores or taking care of the toddlers back at the orphanage for an evening. He wondered what Hank would ask of him.

His nerves were slowly returning as his mind raced, and he tugged at his sleeves anxiously. Hank glanced back once, and when he caught Connor bristling with nerves, he questioned him again.

"What's got you so worked up, huh? Trouble at school?"

Instead of answering the man, he said, "Where are we going?"

"You're a lucky boy, today, kid. Take-your-kid-to-work day came early for you."

Connor gulped. "We're going to the precinct?"

Hank turned to face Connor at his trembling tone, and the man huffed a laugh. "Don't tell me you're scared. Don't you think being surrounded by cops is about as safe as you can be?"

"But, cops aren't the only ones there. Aren't there bad guys there, too?"

Hank faced forward as the traffic light flashed green. "Oh, don't worry about them suckers. They're behind bulletproof glass. They can't get to ya."

Connor didn't feel reassured.

They pulled up to the station and Connor morosely followed right on Hank's heels, scared and unwilling to leave his circle of safety.

Hank greeted a few people as he speed-walked his way past the front counter and the many rows of desks lined up in the back. When they reached the desk that had a nameplate that read _Lt. Anderson_ on it, Hank gestured for Connor to sit. "Wait here, I'll only be a minute, and then we'll be outta here." And, before Connor could agree, Hank had walked into a closed off room behind him and slammed the door.

 _Hank's desk_ _is_ _messy_ , Connor thought as he sat down and spun himself in the wheelie chair. He spared a smile for himself, loving the fact that instead of going to school and facing that bully, Gavin, he was at work with Hank, having fun in a swivel chair.

The novelty of that wore off real quick, though, and Connor found himself glancing at all the pictures Hank had stuck up on his corkboard. As usual, there were a ton of pictures of Hank in his uniform, standing tall and proud and clean-shaven among his fellow officers. He was wearing one of the police uniforms that Connor associated with most cops, but Hank wasn't like them. He was a _lieutenant_ , and Connor didn't know what made him so different from the other cops, but he knew that it meant that he could wear whatever he wanted to work now, and Connor thought that was pretty cool.

Behind one of the many uniformed Hank photos, there was one that was peeking out from behind it. He furrowed his brows and lifted the bottom corner of the picture only to find another picture. It was ruffled and had many creases through the middle, but that wasn't the only difference: Hank wasn't alone here. He was standing beside a little boy, a hand on each of his shoulders, bright smiles on both of their faces.

Was this Hank's real son? And, if it was, where was he now?

"All right, I guess we can— What are you doing?"

As soon as Connor heard the familiar gruffness, he'd dropped the picture back into place and sat rigid, wide eyes on Hank. "N-nothing."

Hank narrowed his eyes and glanced at everything on his desk Connor could have been looking at. "Uh huh, I believe that." Then, he shook his head and grabbed a few papers that were setting on the top of his desk. "We don't have time. I have to go drop these off, and then I have to swing by a crime scene because some idiot, who shall remain nameless, left his gloves in front of the house last night, so I have to go get _that_ if I don't want to hear any bitc—" Hank stopped himself before he could say the swear word Connor knew was coming. "Just get a move on. We're wasting daylight."

This time in the car, Hank put on some noisy music that set Connor's teeth on edge. It was not pleasant, and it sounded like a bunch of guys screaming all at once, but he wasn't going to say anything. No, his mind was already flowing with new questions. Where was that mysterious boy? And, was it a coincidence that he looked a little bit like Connor? Maybe Hank got a divorce and now his son lived with his mom somewhere far away now. Hank probably doesn't visit him or else Kara would have known by now and told Connor about it.

Somewhere in all his thinking, Connor had dozed off. By the time he woke up, Hank had already made it to the sight of the crime scene he'd been talking about. He blearily blinked his eyes awake as Hank softly called out to him.

"Connor? Connor, come on. I need your help."

He yawned and stretched his arms out in front of him before following Hank to an empty house that was blocked off with yellow police tape they'd stopped in front of. He called it empty because the lawn was stripped of any lawn ornaments Connor was used to seeing on peoples yards. The grass was a bit high and the door was wide open, though no lights were on inside. It looked like a haunted house to Connor.

Hank began scanning the ground with alert eyes. "Can you help me find a pair of black gloves that were left here? They're leather and fingerless, so they should be easy to spot in all this green."

"Okay," he said, and Connor was suddenly flooded with a feeling he couldn't really name. He felt very important being tasked with this job, and it was small, but Connor wasn't going to let him down.

He got on his hands and knees and searched the side of the house first since Hank was glancing over the front. The dirt was still muddy from all the rain from the morning, but Connor didn't care about getting dirty. Lucky for him, neither did Hank, otherwise he'd have to take a bath _every_ _single_ _day_.

He came up empty on the side, but he didn't want to give up. Even when Hank exhausted the front yard and the backyard and was ready to head home, Connor still insisted that he could find the gloves, and so he went over every inch of the front and sides himself until only the backyard was left. Hank had already looked over it, and Connor meant no offense in thinking it, but old people tended to miss a lot of things kids didn't.

He searched low to the ground and high up on the ledges of the window sill, but he still found nothing. Only when he heard a slight scuffing sound come from in the shed did he decide to check in there.

There was a padlock on the door, but it was already broken and lying on the ground, so Connor reached up and creaked the door all the way open. It was pitch dark inside, but he didn't see a light switch on the side to brighten the small shed. It was very mucky inside and Connor's nerves start to jitter in fear. Maybe the gloves weren't in there. Who would want to go in there in the first place?

He had just grabbed a hold of the door to close it when something caught his eye on the ground of the shed. Right where the outside lighting stopped and crossed over into darkness sat one little glove.

 _Hah!_ Connor smiled and his fear buzzed into happiness at a mission completed. He started for the glove, the darkness no longer quite so scary, and grabbed it up. The other had to be around here somewhere. Probably in—

"Hey, there kid," a voice said in the darkness, and Connor immediately stumbled backward over his own two feet. His grip on the glove tightened protectively, and a call for Hank got caught in his throat.

The voice turned into a body as a shadow formed from the darkness from the back of the shed. A man crept forward, a weird, glimmering smile on his face. He held up a hand, and in between his skinny fingers was the other glove. "You looking for this? I didn't know it was yours. Here, I'd be happy to give it back. Here, take it," he said.

Connor really really wanted to run right out of the shed right that second, but that small, fingerless glove kept him from doing that. Hank had tasked him this one job, and he didn't want to let the man down.

So, he took a deep, shuddering breath and crept forward. The glove suddenly seemed miles away as he took each step closer, and once he was finally in reach, he quickly shot his hand out and pulled it from the other man who let it go with ease.

It was on the tip of his tongue to thank the strange man and be on his way, but then Hank called out Connor's name and everything happened so fast.

The same hands that had just handed over Connor's victory clutched him now in a tight, inescapable hold. He barely got Hank's name out of his mouth before a hand was thrusted over it, effectively silencing him. His muffled cries took a lot of energy as Connor writhed against the man holding onto him, and a few tears had started to mix in with his sweat-damped face.

Hank's calls got closer until he was suddenly standing in the doorway to the shed, his handgun raised in Connor's direction. Fresh tears sprung from Connor's eyes at the sight as he tried to beg Hank to put his gun down.

"Let the boy go," Hank said, and even though his voice was calm, his face was anything but. It was as tense as Connor had ever seen it. Not even when Hank got really mad had he ever had such a look of fury mixed onto his face like it was now.

Everything was scaring Connor right now, from Hank's raging look to the bruising grip on his chest, and he closed his eyes to try to escape the situation.

"Why would I let go of the one thing keeping me alive?" the guy said from behind Connor's ear, and he shrunk away in disgust.

"There's no need to be dramatic. You haven't done anything serious enough yet for me to shoot. Not unless—" Hank broke off, but spoke harder when he said, "Unless you have something to do with what happened here last night." He paused. "Were you here when that fight broke out last night? Did you see what happened here?"

Connor whimpered again at the thought that this man was actually dangerous. Connor knew something bad had happened here last night, and in his mind, the worst case scenario popped into his head. A killing, perhaps. Connor's blood dripped ice all over at the thought.

The grip on Connor's body tightened as the man began to move them forward. His eyes flew open, and he saw Hank slowly backing up and giving them space to stumble out into the muddy yard.

"I saw it happen. It was a mistake, man, honest. The other guy, the guy with the funny haircut, he was the one who pushed Mike. He looked just as good as dead, and we all freaked and just took off because we knew no one was going to come out of that mess clean."

"Well, you messed up," Hank said, inching ever closer. "Because Mike is very much alive, and if anyone had had the decency to stay and call an ambulance for the poor guy, then you would have known."

"Wait," the guy said, and Connor could feel the tight grip the man had across his chest begin to loosen. "You mean to say Mike's alive? No one died?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. So, there's no trouble here. Just let the boy go, and we can all go down to the station so you can tell them what happened."

As soon as Hank mentioned the police station, the guy tensed once more. "No, no, no, I know what you're doing. No, I have a better plan. You drop your gun, and I'll let the boy go."

"You know it can't happen that way," Hank said, and Connor desperately wondered _why_ it couldn't happen in that moment. "You're the only one who knows what happened."

"Bullshit. I wasn't the only one at that damn party."

"Then, tell us! Come back, and tell the detectives what you saw."

Connor watched Hank's face very carefully to try to figure out what was going on. He had noticed that Hank's eyes would widen when the grip on Connor's chest tightened, and when the guy seemed to be loosening up, Hank would look relieved. Now, Hank's face contorted in determination once more just as the guy gripped him harder.

"I've been here before," the guy said. "It never ends well for me. So, if you want this precious kid back all in one piece, then you'd better empty your clip and toss it aside in two pieces."

Hank looked as if he was going to fight him on it again, but after a lingering glance at Connor and a soft curse to himself, he pulled his gun apart and threw it next to the back door of the house in two separate pieces.

"Now, that wasn't so hard."

And, that was the last Connor heard from him. The man abruptly let go of him, and Connor immediately collapsed to the ground as a fresh wave of tears roiled over.

He couldn't hear anything over his own all-consuming sobs racketing out of his chest, all of the tension and fear that had been coiled tight in his stomach releasing out of him as the threat of danger washed away.

He didn't know how long he sat there before he realized he was scooped up into Hank's arms. The man's soft words of reassurance finally filtered into Connor's consciousness, and once he realized that the pressure around his arms was Hank, he crawled further into the man's lap and wrapped his arms around his neck tightly.

"You're okay, Connor, I've got you. He's gone. I got you," he kept saying, over and over until it finally calmed Connor down enough to where he could breathe almost normally again. He hiccuped with every couple of breaths he took, but thankfully the crying had stopped, and his grip on Hank had begun to loosen considerably.

He'd never noticed before just how warm Hank was. He didn't think it just by looking at him, but now, when Hank was everywhere and all around him, Connor had never felt as safe as he did then right there in his arms.

It felt like forever to Connor, but eventually Hank carefully nudged Connor away from his shoulder and placed a hand on the back of his head as he spoke.

"You okay?" Hank asked, and Connor nodded, feeling small. Hank glanced all around them to make sure they were truly alone and settled his gaze on the shed.

"Why'd you go in that shed all by yourself? Don't you know not to wander off by yourself, especially at a crime scene?"

Connor tightened his fists and suddenly remembered the reason he went in that shed in the first place. He brought his hands up between himself and Hank and opened his fists to reveal the matching pair of gloves he'd been tasked to find.

"I was looking for these," he said as Hank huffed and gently took them from Connor's open hands. "I didn't want to give up."

"I'll be damned," Hank said, admiring the gloves. "All of this for a pair of damned gloves?" Hank's tone made Connor think that Hank could have cared less about the gloves, as if they weren't important at all. But, Connor didn't care if Hank thought that. He'd been given a mission and Connor felt pride at a job well done.

Connor didn't answer him. He only grabbed the gloves into his possession once more and held them tight.

Hank was staring at Connor with a look so full of wonder and confusion and a lot of other things he couldn't quite place. It made the heat in his cheeks flare up at being scrutinized so openly.

"You're something else, Connor."

Connor's eyes flitted toward Hank's gaze to try to determine if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"As noble as that was risking your life for a ratty pair of gloves," he said, flicking the gloves in Connor's hands, "I almost lost you today. Do you get that? Don't ever do that again, son. If you're not sure about something, then you come and get me, and I'll help you. Is that understood?"

"Yeah," he said softly.

"What's that? I can't hear you," Hank said.

"Yeah," Connor said again, a little louder.

"Still can't hear you with all that mumbling. Wanna say that again?" Hank said and this time he went for Connor's ribs, tickling him until Connor was writhing in laughter against him.

"Okay! I said, okay!" Connor said through fits of giggles. Hank chuckled and pushed Connor away as he stood up. Connor followed suit, wiping the grass off his knees before deciding to leave it. After the day he'd had, Hank was for sure going to make sure Connor took a bath tonight.

"Let's get back to the station. I'm sure the boys are gonna have a fit when I tell them about this."

Hank started to walk away, but Connor rushed up beside him and slipped his tiny hand into Hank's big, rough one; he really didn't want to be far away from him at the moment. Hank stopped and glanced at Connor with soft eyes before giving him a squeeze and a half smile before heading for the car.

The rest of the afternoon went by quickly. When they got to the station, Hank had Connor follow him into the captain's office this time and hand over the gloves himself. The way Hank figured: Connor had found them and damn near gotten himself hurt in the process, so Connor deserved the credit. Hank had told everyone about what had happened back at the crime scene, and now that Hank had seen the suspect, the police had sent out some guys to look up on this new lead.

Then, they went for ice cream. Hank got chocolate and Connor got strawberry, and they ate it at a dirty bench on the sidewalk near the ice cream shop. This was the first time Connor and Hank had ever hung out without Kara or Markus, and secretly, _selfishly_ , Connor wished it could be like this all the time. It felt nice having Hank all to himself, and Hank seemed to be a bit nicer when they were alone. He didn't know if it was because they were alone or if it was because of what happened back at the crime scene, but Hank was actually smiling with him, and Connor hoped things could be this easy with Hank every day.

By the time they were heading back to the school to pick up Kara and Markus, Connor's morose mood from the morning returned. Hank didn't let Connor's mood go so easily this time.

"Now that we … had the kind of day that we had," he started off, turning the volume down on the stereo, "I think it's time we start opening up to each other."

Connor's heart started racing because throughout the entire day, he had yet to come up with a lie to give to Hank to explain his odd behavior. He was pretty good at lying, if he did say so himself, but only when he had time to think about it. So much happened today, and Gavin was the last thing on his mind.

Hank eyed Connor curiously who quickly looked away and out the window.

"I'll start," Hank said. "Ask me anything you want. I'm an open book for ya."

Connor eyed Hank suspiciously. _Anything he wanted?_ There were about a thousand things he'd wanted to ask. How old was Hank? When did he become a police officer? _Why_ did he become a police officer? Why did he pick Connor to bring home out of the hundreds of other kids who were at the orphanage?

But, there was something more pressing on his mind as he remembered his trip to the precinct earlier, and he knew exactly what he wanted to ask.

"What happened to your real family?"

Connor watched him very carefully because he knew he was delving into really personal territory. Connor, himself, never answered when anyone asked about his family. It was a touchy subject for him and for a lot of people in his experience.

Hank was no exception. His eyes cut over to Connor so fast and so intensely that Connor couldn't even look away. He didn't look mad, but he wasn't exactly happy about being asked, either.

"Jesus, you really went in swinging, didn't ya?" Hank focused back on the road, but his grip on the steering wheel had tightened, whitening the tops of his knuckles with the force. "Why do you ask that? What makes you think you and Kara and Markus aren't my real family?"

Connor took a deep breath as quietly as he could. "I saw the picture at your desk. The one with you and ... and the boy."

"You saw that, huh?" Hank said, and now he just sounded sad. It almost felt worse than the thought of him getting angry. "Yeah, that was my first family. But, before I tell you any more, I want you to understand that you three kids are my family now, okay? Just because we don't share the same blood doesn't mean I think any less of you guys than my other family. You got it?"

"Got it."

"Okay, then." Hank ran a hand through his hair as he drew in a deep breath. "The boy in that photo was my son, Cole. I was lucky enough to spend a good nine years with him. Time that was filled with trips to the park and vacations and family outings to Cole's sporting events. Life was pretty good for that time."

Connor waited for him to go on, but he seemed to be lost in his thoughts as he stared unseeingly through the windshield, so Connor said, "Where is he now?"

Hank blew the air out of him in a steady stream. "Oh, Connor, he's no where you want to know about."

Connor knew what that meant.

"Anyway," Hank continued, "I felt so empty without him, without someone to care for. I started … forming some bad habits. I became someone I didn't even recognize. But, then, one day, I got this case on my desk involving a little girl. She came from the same kind of background as you did, and her foster parents turned out to be some kind of assholes, and when I saw the little girl sitting down at the station in one of those chairs by my desk, I don't really know what came over me. I just wanted to … help her. So, I cleaned myself up and vowed to get her and bring her home so that she'd never have to go through such a bad time again."

The wheels were turning in Connor's head until it all clicked into place. "Are you talking about Kara?"

Hank turned to Connor with a half smile and a twinkle in his eye. "You know any other little girls running around the house?"

Connor thought about the strong bond Kara seemed to have with Hank and her ability to bring the smile out of Hank more often than Connor ever could, and even more than Markus' funny antics. She was the first kid to come into Hank's family after he'd lost his first one, and Connor secretly envied Kara for the strong relationship she had with him.

"And, me? Cole looks like me."

Hank was quiet for so long that he wasn't sure he was even going to answer. But, then he said, "I've noticed."

Connor brought his thumbs together as he ran them in circles over one another. "Is that why you don't talk to me that much? Because I remind you of him?"

"What?" Hank said, scrunching his face up. "No, of course not. Why—" he broke off, and Connor could feel the weight of his gaze on the side of his face. Then, quietly, he said, "Have I been doing that?"

Connor shrugged, not wanting to hurt his feelings but also not wanting to lie. "Kinda," he said softly.

"Oh, Connor," Hank said, and the sadness in his tone hurt Connor, twisting his insides guiltily. "Look here," he said. Connor picked up his head to glance at Hank, and the emotion in the man's eyes matched his tone perfectly. It almost made him want to cry. "Now, I'm sorry if I did that. I didn't mean to make you feel like that; I was only trying to give you some space until you came around in your own time. And," Hank paused to swallow thickly, "maybe it was just a little too hard looking at you without seeing Cole there. I didn't really notice I was doing it, but it shouldn't have happened, and for that, I'm sorry. Ya think we could just scrap the last three months and start over? Right now?"

And, how could Connor deny him this? He'd wanted the same thing, to just forget the awkwardness and tenseness of the past few months and go forward like how today was. It was all Connor really wanted.

It was easy and genuine for him to smile happily at Hank and nod his head. "Okay, Hank. I'd like that."

Hank breathed a sigh of relief and smiled as he reached over to ruffle Connor's floppy brown hair. "Good deal, kid. I'll do better, I promise."

The word had Connor beaming inside because he _promised_ , and nobody could break a promise; it was the law.

Hank beat his hands rhythmically on the steering wheel as the happiness spread around them. "That's all I'm willing to talk about to a boy who's got his own worries on his mind. Which, speaking of, it's my turn to ask you a question." _Oh, boy_ , Connor thought, that slow-spreading happiness freezing in its tracks before it could completely consume him. "Why didn't you want to go to school this morning?"

His question wasn't as heavy as Connor's had been, but somehow it hit Connor a lot harder than being asked about his family would have. It was just so immediately relevant, and it was a problem Connor was going through right now, and so all the feelings he held for it were multiplied times ten.

"Um, I-I just—"

"And, don't you lie to me, son. I have a built-in lie detector, right here," he said tapping the side of his temple. "And, my buzzer is going off like crazy right now."

Connor groaned lightly to himself, and he hoped Hank missed it. But, maybe it was okay to trust Hank. He hadn't wanted to tell him before because he thought the man would just brush Connor off as being too soft and tell him to toughen up. Or worse, he'd go to the school and tell the principal about it, and Connor couldn't have that.

Now, though, Connor thought Hank might just have some meaningful words to say.

"Well, there's this kid. His name is Gavin, and he's, like, the meanest kid in school. Whenever I switch classes to go to reading, he's just leaving the class when I come in, and sometimes he says things to me."

"Things like what?"

Connor bit his lip. "Bad words. Mean names. Anyway, I always just ignore him, but yesterday, he pushed me and knocked me down and—"

"Is that why you came home with rips and tears in your jeans?"

"Yeah, and he told me not to say anything to anyone, or else next time he'd hit me worse."

Hank furrowed his eyebrows. "He said that?" Connor nodded, and Hank said, "What a little asshole."

Panic overcame Connor at his hostile tone, and he turned in his seat to grab onto Hank's free arm that was resting on the console between them. "Please don't go to the principal. It would just make things worse, and I don't want everyone to know."

"But, this kid is harassing you and threatening you. If you don't do something about this, then he's gonna keep on treating you this way until you stand up for yourself."

"I know, Hank, I know. But, just don't get involved, okay? That would be the worst because then _everyone_ will call me a baby for tattling."

Hank huffed as he made a sharp turn, and Connor realized they'd reached the school now. The school was overcrowded as always during parent pick-up, and they parked in the pick-up lane behind a dozen vehicles. Kids ran all through the sidewalk out front to look for their parents' car's, and Connor could see Markus and Kara start for their car as soon they spotted it.

"Well, what do you plan on doing? 'Cause you can't be skipping school every day because some little shit is bullying you."

"I know, and I won't. I just didn't feel like dealing with him today, that's all."

Hank eyed Connor as if he didn't believe him, but thankfully, he dropped it, sighing in defeat. "Okay. If that's what you want."

"It is."

Hank held up his hands in surrender. "Then, that's the way it's gonna be. I won't go to the principal, but I want you to promise that you won't wait too long before putting that kid in his place."

Connor held up his pinky finger in offering. "Pinky promise."

Hank stared at Connor's waggling finger amusedly, before he shook his head and entwined his own pinky finger with Connor's. "And, you know," Hank went on, "siblings are good for more than just making your life miserable. Maybe you might want to ask them for some help in getting this kid off your back."

The sound of the car doors opening signaled the arrival of said siblings, and Connor grinned to himself as he settled back into the passenger seat.

"What the hell kind of alternate universe did I walk into where Connor gets to sit in the front? I always get shotgun, I'm the oldest!" Markus said as he buckled himself up behind Hank.

"Language," Hank said.

"Ever heard of sharing?" Kara said. "Oh, wait, I think that word is a bit too advanced for you." Connor turned his head around just in time to witness Markus hit Kara in the arm. She yelped and punched him back, and both she and Connor laughed when Markus _ooowww_ ed and rubbed his arm.

Before all out war could happen in the backseat, Hank adjusted the rear view mirror so he could look at the two troublemakers. "Knock it off," he said. "Markus, you know we don't hit girls, and Kara, you know you shouldn't pick on those who are smaller than you."

Connor giggled to himself as Markus cried foul play. "You watch, I'm gonna grow out of my skinny arms and end up being stronger than all of you."

"Yeah, come back when you grow some muscles," Hank said, and everyone in the car who wasn't Markus laughed at the joke.

On the ride home, Connor told them everything that happened with the guy back at the crime scene. He made it sound much more action-y than it actually appeared, and he definitely left out the parts where he was on the ground crying like a baby. Hank never contradicted him on it, but he did bring the severity of the situation back to the conversation. He didn't want anyone, especially Connor, to forget how dangerous the whole thing had been. Markus and Kara had both thought it sounded cool when Connor told the story, but after Hank's reminder, everyone was left with grim faces, and when Connor left the car once they got home, Hank pulled all four of them into a tight, family hug right there in front of their little house.

This was what family meant to Connor. Not what everyone else had: two parents, a baby brother, and a dog to top it all off. But this: two stranger kids who had accepted him whole-heartedly into their exclusive club, and a caring, protective man who didn't always know the right thing to do or say, but everything he did ended up coming from a place of love.

And, Connor loved all of them for it.

* * *

 **I love making my children actual children.**

 **This was inspired by the cutest fanart I saw on tumblr with the three mains as children and trailing after Hank, and then this just happened.**

 **I wish the three mains could have had more scenes together, but it was fun thinking of how they'd be as children and how they'd react to each other. It was especially fun having Hank parent them all because he's the best dad. I plan on having a few more chapters that follow Connor as he grows up with Hank and Markus and Kara, so that will be coming.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	2. And, Sumo Makes Five

Connor was eleven years old when he decided he couldn't go on living without a pet dog.

Markus was the one who had first brought it up one day when he, Connor, and Kara were playing on the old monkey bar set at school during recess. The other kids were running throughout the playground, screaming and laughing as they played tag or hide and seek with each other. Besides the occasional kid who wandered over to them to play in the sandbox that sat below them, they were pretty much apart from everyone else.

But, they did that on purpose. There were two sets of monkeys bars on the playground: the new, vibrantly colored one that had been built to accompany the new jungle gym that had replaced the wooden, outdated one; and this old, monkey bar set that Connor and his siblings had unofficially claimed during recess. No one wanted to mess with the old looking, steel aluminum bars of this wooden set anyway, and so it had made it the perfect place for the three of them to get together when they wanted to have one of their secret meetings.

Markus had passed both Kara and Connor notes during lunch telling them to meet him at the monkey bars because of "urgent business!" and now here they sat, Connor and Kara taking turns trying to make their way across the bars while Markus sat on the top of the bars and looked out over the blacktop.

"Guys, listen up," Markus started. "Remember how we went to the park last weekend and we saw that lady on the corner who had a box full of puppies she was selling?"

How could Connor forget? It was when they were on their way to the grocery store with Hank, and right on the corner was a woman who had a box full of puppies she was trying to give away. They'd all stopped to look and gush at them, but they knew they wouldn't be able to get one; not with Hank's "no pet" rule.

But, Connor's heart just couldn't give up on the idea. They were all so cute and cuddly, and Connor had started to slowly lose himself to the idea of one day getting a dog.

Kara went for another bar now and almost made it, but as soon as Markus started talking about dogs, she yelped excitedly and dropped gracefully to her feet. "Of course, I do! They were so cute! I really wish Hank would let us have one, but..."

Connor averted his eyes from the others and hastily started to climb up the ladder to start his trek across the bars.

"But, _somebody_ is allergic," Markus finished, speaking the words Kara hadn't wanted to.

Connor huffed and slipped to the ground, his sweaty palms unable to carry himself past the third bar. "It's not my fault I'm allergic. I want a dog just as much as you two do! And, I told Hank that it didn't matter because I could just take my allergy medicine."

Kara looked uncomfortable as Markus continued to rip into Connor unfairly. "You think Hank has money to just spend thousands of dollars on allergy medicine for you all the time?"

"I don't think it's thousands of dollars," Kara said, but Markus continued as if she hadn't spoken.

"Anyway, it doesn't matter because I've already figured it out."

Kara's face lit up, and a tiny ball of anxiety began to knot itself in the pit of Connor's stomach. "What do you mean?" Kara said, looking hopeful. "You mean you know how we can get one?"

Markus glanced down at Connor and Kara and smiled at them like a true hero. "That's exactly what I'm saying."

Kara still tried to gather all the facts. "But, how—"

"Listen," he said and hopped down from the top of the bars. He landed on his hands and knees and sprung up like a tiger in front of them. Connor reeled his head back as Markus came up to them and placed a hand on each of their shoulders. "I just wanted to know if you guys still wanted a dog."

"Of course, we do!" Kara said, and the happiness in her tone and face was infectious. It spread to Markus until the two of them were grinning expectantly at Connor.

Connor wanted a dog more than anything in the world. He wanted someone to hold and pet, someone to play frisbee in the yard with and not get tired, someone to crawl into his bed at night until Connor fell asleep. The idea had rooted itself into his imagination until all he could think about was bringing a dog home to love, allergies or not.

Markus squeezed Connor's shoulder to get his attention again, and the slightly older boy raised his eyebrows, waiting.

Connor glanced at Kara and couldn't keep the smile off his face any longer. He was still a little nervous at how they were going to convince Hank to let them keep a _dog_ , but they could figure it out later.

"I really, really want a dog," Connor said.

Markus grabbed his bottom lip between his teeth as he smiled and lightly patted Connor on the cheek once. "Don't you worry about a thing. I got this one. Just one thing, and I'm talking to you when I say this, Connor."

Markus turned to Kara, and then they both faced Connor down with raised eyebrows and amusement in their eyes. Together, the two of them said, " _Don't tell Hank_."

Connor's cheeks heated up at the implication as he smiled sheepishly. "I promise this time."

The whistle signaling the end of recess blew then, and the three of them split off to their class lines as Markus yelled after them to be ready to leave after they got home.

He spent the rest of the school day in a furry induced haze thinking about all the things he was going to do when he got a dog. He didn't know how Markus planned on getting Hank to agree, but Markus was crafty, and when he put his heart into something, he never failed to get what he wanted.

Connor felt a little guilty when they told him not to tell Hank because that was something he tended to do without really meaning to. Over the past year, Connor had gotten his secret wish: he'd formed a close bond with Hank. He used to be jealous of Kara because Kara and Hank knew each other the longest, and he seemed to have a soft spot for her, but after what happened that day with the guy who held Connor hostage in the shed, his bond with the man had taken off.

Now, _Connor_ was the one who seemed closest with Hank, and that wasn't always a good thing. Not when his siblings had secrets they didn't want to share with him. Connor never meant to share their secrets with Hank, but the man was a detective! It didn't seem to matter whether Connor told Hank or not, he could always just tell when Connor knew something juicy.

But, for this, for the ultimate gift of a _dog_ , Connor was going to try his absolute hardest to conceal this.

After school, the three of them rushed to Hank's car in the pick-up lane, buzzing with excitement. Hank noticed their energy and chuckled to himself as he drove out of the school zone.

"What's got you three in a pickle?"

Markus was drumming his hands on the dashboard to the heavy metal music Hank played. Markus was the _only_ one who liked the music Hank played.

"Is it cool if we go to Jake's house after school?" Markus said.

Hank gave a once over to all three of them, and Connor fisted his hands so tight to keep from giving anything away.

"Jake Peterson? I thought you guys didn't like going to his house anymore."

"Well," Markus said, dragging the word out as he turned to face Connor and Kara in the backseat. When he looked at Connor, his eyes widened slightly, and he wondered what showed on his face to make him react like that. Was he accidentally going to give them all away again?

But, then Markus must have thought of something because he suppressed a sudden smile that had threatened to take over and turned to Hank with a blank face once more. "Jake has a cousin who comes over on Fridays for the weekend. She and Kara are friends, and also," he said, leaning over to whisper conspiratorially to Hank. "I think she has a crush on Connor."

" _What?_ " Connor said, voice high, heat bursting in his cheeks. Kara stifled a giggle beside him.

Hank chuckled and looked at Connor's distraught face through the rear view mirror. "That so? Well, Connor, looks like you've got yourself an admirer."

"I do not! Markus is—"

Connor broke off as Kara kicked her shoe against his. She shot him a look that said s _hut_ _up!_ and he closed his mouth, folding his arms across his chest as he pouted.

Connor seriously hoped this was all a part of the ruse.

"Aw, don't be a spoil sport, kid, I was only teasing," Hank said, mistaking the reason for his sour attitude. "All right, you guys can head on over if you want. Are you gonna eat dinner over there, again?"

"Maybe," Markus said. "Probably. Only if his mom makes those chicken nuggets that taste really sweet."

"His mom puts that chicken in pickle juice before she cooks it," Kara said, wrinkling her nose. "It's so gross."

"I like them," Connor said quietly and to no one in particular.

"Yeah, but that's what makes it so sweet. It's the best kind of chicken nuggets," Markus said.

Kara rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm only staying if she makes literally anything else."

Connor heard Hank sigh from the front. "I don't want you guys splitting up later because I might be getting in late. I've got some more case files to look over and they was just handed to me today, so I really want to get a move on with those. If one of you goes home, I want you _all_ to go home. Understand?"

All three of them mumbled their agreements in unison as Hank pulled up to their house. He stopped at the curb to let the three of them out, and they lingered by the driver's side door to hear out Hank's farewell.

"If you guys don't end up staying at Peterson's, then there's some microwave pizza in the freezer. You know the drill."

"Yes, we do," Markus said, already running up the pavement to the house. He waved behind him. "See ya, Hank." Hank tipped two fingers to his head in a goodbye salute.

Kara reached up to the rolled down window and tapped the car door. "Bye, Hank. Be safe."

He gave her a fond smile. "Always am," he said, then she ran off after Markus.

Connor was the last one standing there, and he was beginning to feel awkward. He didn't know exactly what the three of them were about to do, but whatever Markus had planned, it was something Hank had no idea about. He didn't like the feeling like he was lying to the man by being silent.

But, he'd promised this time.

"Why you looking so nervous?" Hank said, narrowing his eyes at him. Connor could feel that he'd tensed in place, his shoulders hunched and locked, and he deliberately tried to loosen himself up.

"I'm just tired."

Hank scoffed. "'Just tired'," he said, not believing him for a second. He dropped his wrist onto the top of the steering wheel as he gazed onto the road. Then, before he had the chance to turn back to Connor for more questioning, Connor ran off toward the house hoping to make it before Hank could notice.

He only made it three feet before Hank called out to him, voice gruff with confusion. "What the hell? Connor!"

He didn't turn back. He only ran faster, as fast as his little eleven-year-old feet could take him. Then, he slammed the door shut as he ran inside his house, silencing the man's calls for his name. He hurriedly ran to the window to peek out the curtains. Hank was still in the car, and for a second Connor thought he just might follow him into the house. But, he was lucky today. Hank just shook his head exasperatedly and started the car once more. He was out of sight within seconds.

Connor barely had time to breathe a sigh of relief before he jumped as a voice sounded behind him.

"What are you doing?" Markus said, walking out of the kitchen with half a banana stuck in his mouth.

Connor was still huffing and puffing from his escape, and he let his backpack fall to the floor as he skimmed past Markus and into the kitchen.

"I was about to crack, so I ran," Connor said. Kara was standing on a chair to reach the snack cabinet, and Connor nudged her knee. "Can you pass me a pop tart?"

"Hold up," Markus said, making a U turn back into the kitchen. He held the banana in one hand as he stared after Connor, confused. "What do you mean you ran?"

The pop tart fell into Connor's waiting hands as Kara dropped it down, and then proceeded to crawl her way back down. Connor ripped the package apart with his teeth and glanced at Markus. "I mean I ran. I couldn't take it if he asked me another question, so I took off. You guys, I feel so guilty lying to Hank. He's gonna be so mad at me when he finds out."

Markus smacked his forehead and groaned. "Great going, idiot, now we're gonna get even more heat when he gets home. You don't think that was suspicious just taking off like that?"

"Quit that, Markus," Kara said as she pushed the chair she'd been standing on back up to the table. She had her own pop tart in her hand, but it sat unwrapped in her grasp as she placed her hands on her hips and scolded Markus. "Connor isn't used to lying to Hank. Go easy on him."

Connor ate his pop tart in silence, feeling guilty once more. "Maybe you guys shouldn't have told me," he said. "You know I can keep a secret, but it's really hard when it's one I have to keep from _Hank_."

He was the one person Connor couldn't lie to. Not because he wasn't able to, but because he didn't want to. Hank had always been good to him, and he didn't deserve anything less than honesty from Connor.

Markus sighed and ran a hand over his head as he thought. Kara came to stand beside Connor and placed an arm around his shoulders. "Connor," she said. "No one's mad at you."

Markus raised a hand in the air. "Uh—"

" _No one's_ mad at you," she said, glaring at Markus. Then, she faced Connor with a look that had his stomach sinking. She was trying hard to conceal it, but he could tell she was a little disappointed. "I guess if you really don't want to help us, then you can stay here. Markus and I will do whatever it is he has planned, and we'll be back before dinner."

"But, Hank told us not to split up."

"'But, Hank said'," Markus said, exaggerating Connor's high voice. "Look, stay if you want, but I asked you because I needed all three of us. You're gonna be letting us down if you back out now."

As if Connor didn't already feel like the worst brother in the world, Markus's words were like a slingshot to the stomach.

Before he could respond, Markus grabbed up his jacket that had been laying over the back of one of the chairs and started for the living room. "I'm leaving now and whoever wants a dog should come."

Kara jumped up, but before she could run off after him, she tried one more time with Connor. "Come on," she said, grabbing his hand and tugging on it. "We can't do this without you, and I know you want a dog just as much as the rest of us. You can even name him!"

Connor's heart sparked at the idea, and a small smile came to his face. "Really?"

Kara beamed, knowing she'd won. "Yes! Now, come on!"

And, then the three of them were off. Markus grinned when he saw Connor come out of the house hand in hand with Kara, and when he was close enough, he grabbed Connor around the neck and ruffled his hair with his other hand, everything that happened in the kitchen forgotten about.

They walked, or more like ran and chased each other, the half mile it was to Jake's house. Truthfully, Connor never liked Jake and that was because Jake was friends with Gavin and Gavin was the scum of the earth.

But, Gavin was last year's problem. After that day with Hank, he had taken the man up on his suggestion and had confided in Markus and Kara about what had been going on with Gavin.

Surprisingly, Markus had been the one to shut down the bullying. Kara and Markus had started walking with Connor to his classes, and for a week, Gavin had left him alone with only a seething look as they passed. But, then Markus had been late to walk him one time, and Gavin seized the opportunity. He'd tripped Connor and started mouthing off to Kara when she got in his face and tried to push him. Gavin was bigger than her, so he wasn't very scared, but then all of a sudden Gavin was on the ground beside Connor, and he was holding his nose and groaning. Connor was amazed because Kara was pretty tough, but had she really done that?

But, when a hand reached down for Connor's hand, it was Markus standing there with a look of fury on his face. Connor had taken his hand and was pulled up quickly, and Markus had told Gavin that if he ever touched Connor again, there was more where that came from.

Markus had gotten suspended for that incident, but he didn't care. And, when Hank had gotten the phone call to come pick him up, he'd high-fived Markus and told him he was proud of all three of them for sticking together.

Gavin hadn't bothered Connor since that day, and when they passed each other in the hallways, Gavin was always the first to look away.

Connor thought he had the best siblings in the world.

The three of them slowed their game of tag now as Jake's house loomed before them. The yard was pristine as always with the grass cut short, and it looked like his parents had added more little lawn gnomes to act out scenes. The gnomes were so creepy in his opinion. They followed his every move as he crept up the sidewalk with his siblings.

Markus rang the door bell, and for the first time since recess today, he looked nervous. He had his hands clasped respectfully in front of him and held his head down. Connor wanted to step up to him and ask him what was wrong, but the door opened to Jake's mom in that moment.

Mrs. Peterson was a tall, blonde woman with a tired face more often than not, but she smiled at the three of them as she greeted them. "Hey, kids. Jake mentioned that the three of you would be stopping by. Here to take home one of those puppies, no doubt. They are such a feisty bunch, so I hope Hank is ready. Come on in," she said, opening the door wider.

As the three of them walked in, the first thing Connor heard was the rich sound of puppies. His heart started beating in double time as the reality finally hit him: he was going to get a puppy!

They followed the sound all the way to Jake's bedroom and found the boy kneeling on the ground in front of a huge dog lying down with a bunch of little puppies running around in front of her belly.

A rush of warmth spread through Connor's chest at the sight. He'd never been allowed to have a pet back at the orphanage, and for all his life, he'd thought he'd never get to have one. He'd thought he'd just have to wait until he was an adult, and then no one could tell him what he could or couldn't do.

When he'd first arrived at Hank's, he remembered one of the first thoughts he had was whether or not he could have a pet. A cat, a dog, he'd even take a goldfish, just any type of animal Connor could care for would have been enough. But, when they visited a pet store one time, Connor went near some of the dogs who were getting groomed in the back, and he'd just started having the worst sneezing fit. That's when Connor and everyone else realized that he was allergic to dogs.

Hank had then enforced a "no pets" policy because of that very small detail even though no one knew if he was allergic to other kinds of furry animals; Hank had decided that he didn't want to test that theory.

But, Connor absolutely loved animals, and he would do anything to make that dream a reality.

Connor sunk down to the carpet next to Jake and immediately one of the pups bounded over to him. The little brown and white dog ran up the length of his thighs and tried to paw his way up his stomach while Connor giggled and grabbed a hold of him. It wasn't very big, but it was still big enough to where Connor needed both his hands to pick him up. He brought the puppy to eye level, and the dog wasted no time in trying to sniff and lick Connor all over the face.

"They're so adorable," Kara said, falling to her knees on Connor's other side. She reached for the puppy in Connor's hand, and he reluctantly gave him up only for another pup to immediately take his place in his lap.

All of the puppies looked the same as the mother, brown all over with a white stripe down the middle. As Markus joined them on the floor, most of the other puppies had noticed the new arrivals and bombarded the siblings with wet licks and painless clawing.

"My dad said we have to get rid of all of them, which sucks," Jake said, petting the biggest puppy in his hand. "So, you can have whichever one you want."

How were they supposed to pick just one? Connor almost felt like scooping all of them up and taking them home, but it was going to be hard enough to convince Hank to keep one.

Markus had a mischievous gleam in his eyes as he watched the puppies bounce all around them with energy. Markus had always talked about getting a dog for as long as Connor knew him, and he could only imagine all the fun things Markus planned to do.

Connor glanced over to Kara and saw that she was laughing and giggling as she spread herself out on the floor and let the puppies roam over her, their tiny presses to her ticklish stomach making her squeal harder.

When she noticed Connor looking, she rolled over into her stomach and said, "Go ahead and pick one, Connor."

Connor glanced at Markus because this was his idea in the first place, and they wouldn't even have made it this far if Markus hadn't known about Jake's puppies. His heart soared as Markus nodded his head at him in affirmation.

Picking which puppy to bring home was easily one of the top five hardest things he'd ever had to do. They were all so cute and they all demanded his attention, but none of them really stood out to him.

Instead, there was another pup who was walking in circles around the mother, and Connor felt his heart skip. He turned to Jake. "What's wrong with that one? Why isn't he running around with these ones?"

Jake glanced at the big dog lying down, and once he noticed the small puppy beside her, he furrowed his eyebrows. "Oh, that one? Nothing's _wrong_ with him. He's just more calmer than the rest. I think he's lazy, I don't know."

Jake turned his attention back to the other dogs, the more exciting ones, but Connor couldn't stop watching the one cuddled up with its mother. Jake had said all the puppies had to go, and Connor couldn't help feeling sorry for this one. All it wanted was its mother, and it had no idea that they were going to be torn apart soon. And, who knew what kind of owner the puppy would get? Jake's parents would probably give the poor pup to another family, but Connor couldn't bear the thought that this puppy might get stuck with a bad owner.

So, in the end, the decision was pretty easy.

Connor gently scooped the relaxed puppy up into his hands and felt relieved when the puppy let him. He felt even more elated when the dog licked at Connor's hands and nuzzled his face against Connor's.

"We'll take this one."

All four of them left the bedroom then, and while Kara and Connor sat on the couch and played with their new puppy, Markus followed Jake into the kitchen—where his mom had two full bowls of chicken nuggets, just the way Markus liked it.

Kara was holding the puppy, letting the dog rest in her lap as she ruffled his neck with her nimble fingers. Then, she suddenly stilled her hands and faced Connor with an expectant look. "Have you thought of a name for him?"

"Ummm, I don't know," he said. He'd never had the pleasure to name anything in his life, and it suddenly occurred to him that in all his time of imagining having a pet of his own, he'd never thought of any potential names. Maybe in the back of his mind, he'd never honestly believed that he'd ever get one. Or, maybe he thought he'd always just decide on a name when he saw them for the first time.

Looking at the puppy now, as he played a game where he tried to push back against Kara's hand with all his little strength, he had trouble finding a name fitting for the little one. But, the more he watched the pup continually push Kara's hand away from him only to have her place it right back in front of him, sparked an idea in his head.

"You know what he reminds me of? That show Hank watches sometimes. The one with all those people who wear those funny red and blue bodysuits, and they fight each other to knock each other down into the water?"

Kara squinted confusedly at him before recognition took over, her features loosening with excitement. "Oh, yeah! Where the people look like sumo wrestlers with all that padding they wear."

"Yes, that one! Doesn't he act like one of those sumo wrestlers? He keeps fighting against your hand like a tough dog."

Kara studied the pup as he nosed her hand again, and this time when he won the fight against her hand, she kept her hand away. The puppy seemed to feel victorious because he nestled himself into her lap once more and rested on his paws.

Her eyes softened as she gently petted his smooth, fine hairs. "Yeah, he acts like them, and he's a big softy."

Connor nodded to himself and was glad that the name could come to him easily. "Then, he should be called Sumo."

Kara shot Connor a beaming smile, and he felt a flutter of pride deep in his stomach at her approval.

After Markus decided to clean half of a bowl of chicken nuggets all by himself, Kara was able to pry him away from the remaining bowl before he could eat too much to give himself a stomachache later. Kara then explained to Jake's parents that Hank was still at work and didn't have time to get food for Sumo, so they were kind enough to put some extra dog food in a huge zip lock bag and gave it to them until Hank could go to the store.

The walk home was way more exciting than the walk there. Now they had this tiny puppy who ran alongside them and tried his hardest to keep up with the children. Markus scooped Sumo up and ran him the rest of the way home when the little dog started to lag a bit from the exertion.

The house was dark when they got in, and all three of them were beginning to feel the weight of the days events wear on them. Kara and Markus flopped tiredly onto the couch and flipped the TV on while Connor went into the kitchen with Sumo. The little dog was nipping at Connor's legs, and he figured the puppy was probably hungry.

"You guys," Connor said, starting for the living room once more. "Where are we gonna—"

He stopped talking when he found his siblings asleep on opposite sides of the couch. He sighed and tried not to panic as he scratched at his messy hair. What was he supposed to do now? He didn't want to wake them, and anyway, he could handle this on his own; that's what they would do.

So, he grabbed the blanket from the back of the couch and spread it out over Kara, then he ran into his room to get Markus' blanket before placing it over his sprawled form on the couch. Sumo trailed behind him patiently, and it was such a comfort to Connor because even though Markus and Kara had already fallen asleep, Connor didn't feel alone.

"Come on, Sumo," he said and grabbed the dog food bag as he guided Sumo to their backyard. It was messy, and Hank never cleaned out here. Technically, it was Connor's and his siblings' job to tidy up the backyard, but they hardly ever came out here anyway, and Hank was never on their case about it, so it pretty much sat abandoned and untouched.

There wasn't much out here besides a small shed that was packed with stuff from Hank's past, and a few broken down lawn ornaments that used to sit out front now sprawled haphazardly over the backyard here.

The only place Connor could think to put Sumo where he wouldn't be found was the shed. It made Connor's heart burn with guilt at the very thought, but he tried to comfort himself and Sumo by reminding both of them that it was only temporary. Hank wasn't home much whenever he first started a new case, so that bought them some alone time in the house for a few days since Hank had just told them that evening how he'd gotten a new case. He only hoped Markus came up with an idea in that short window of time.

He creaked open the door and flicked on the light. Luckily the light still worked, albeit dimly, because Connor was starting to feel his eyes droop, and he knew it was only a matter of time before he would go to bed, as well.

Tons of boxes were lined up on top of each other all throughout the shed, and a few bags were gathered to the side. He found an empty bucket that was turned upside down, and he flipped it upright and placed it near the front where it was less crowded. Sumo still followed at his heels, and he even started to let out little yelps. They weren't quite full on barks yet, which Connor was grateful for.

"You're gonna need to keep quiet if you wanna stay, Sumo," Connor pleaded with the dog as he filled the empty bucket up halfway with dog food. He accidentally spilled a few, but Sumo wasted no time in slurping them right up off the wooden floorboard.

Connor backed away and watched fondly as Sumo sniffed the crumb trail to the bucket and started eating.

Sumo was so cute and innocent. How could Hank turn him away once he saw him? There was simply no way in the world lovable Hank, who was the best father figure in the world, could turn away a pup with no home.

As Connor zipped the bag closed and placed it on the floor by the shed door, a slight tickling took root in his nose, and before he realized it, he sneezed.

 _Oh, no_.

He guessed there was one thing that might keep Hank from agreeing.

Connor sighed forlornly as he closed the shed door behind him and headed back inside. No matter how hard he tried to keep his siblings secrets, he always, _always_ , ended up accidentally giving them away in some capacity. And, even though Connor always tried his hardest to prevent that, it just seemed to be in his programming to always slip up somehow.

He didn't think this time was going to be any exception.

* * *

When Connor awoke the next morning, it was because someone was forcefully shaking his shoulder with urgency.

But, it was _so early_.

Connor groaned and rubbed at his eye, which felt a little weird, and swatted whoever it was away. Then, he rolled onto his side to get away from them. That didn't even help.

"Connor," they said, and he still couldn't tell who it was.

"I don't want breakfast," he mumbled, because that was probably the only reason anyone would be shoving him awake this early.

"Get up!" they whispered harshly and reiterated their words with a hard smack to Connor's face.

" _Owww_ ," he said, swinging his arm back in blind retaliation because now he knew it was Markus.

Connor still hadn't opened his eyes, but when Markus grabbed onto his shoulder and flung him around to face him, his eyes shot open.

It was still dark in the living room with the curtains still drawn, but the light from the kitchen was enough illumination for him to see that Markus was facing him with a look of pure panic that only fueled Connor's anxiety. "Where's Sumo?"

As the dreamy haze of sleep began to recede with each word Markus spoke, the events from last night flooded to the forefront of his mind until he scrambled to sit up.

He was laying on the floor in front of the couch, and he remembered how he grabbed his blanket and pillow from his room so that he didn't have to sleep alone. There was no more room on the couch, so he'd just made up his bed in front of the couch and called it a night.

But, as he remembered even further back to before that moment, he remembered setting up Sumo in the shed for the night.

He faced Markus and whispered with urgency. "He's in the shed out back."

He could see the confusion in his older brother's face in the deep furrow of his brows. "The shed?" Confusion quickly gave way to relief as Connor's words sunk into him, and the other boy relaxed the tense grip he had on Connor's upper arm. "Good thinking, bro."

Connor's heart started to beat erratically, thumping wildly at the praise, and he barely had time to smile before Hank's voice called out to them.

"You kids awake, yet? I made blueberry waffles, so you better come and get'em before Markus gets his butt in here and eats them all."

Connor and Markus eyed each other intensely for a moment before Connor pushed him aside into the blankets and ran for the kitchen. He flew into a chair and started to pile his plate just as Markus reached the threshold to the kitchen.

"You cheater," Markus said.

Markus joined him at the table, and before Connor could retort, Kara came whizzing around the corner and into the kitchen, the same stricken look Markus had faced Connor with earlier now on her face.

Unfortunately, Hank chose that moment to turn around with his hands filled with another plate of waffles, and when he noticed her wide-eyed gaze, he immediately became concerned.

"What's wrong, hun?" he said, setting the plate down on the table before walking around to Kara. He placed a hand on her shoulder, and Connor could see her cringe slightly in guilt.

Connor nodded at her subtly to let her know that everything was fine on the puppy front, and she relaxed a little. She gave a breathy laugh as she walked further into the room and sat down at the table.

"Nothing," she said, and her voice never trembled. "I was just … looking for them. Because I woke up and they weren't there and … yeah."

Connor noticed Markus close his eyes briefly as if he were in pain, before he shook his head and continued to plow into his meal.

As the three of them ate their waffles in silence, he'd suddenly noticed that Hank never joined them. He was still standing where Kara left him, but now he eyed the three of them with suspicious eyes. Connor quickly averted his gaze and focused on his breakfast.

"So, guys," Kara said, oblivious to Hank, "remember those chicken nuggets we brought home last night? Where exactly are they?"

Connor wanted to tell her to shut up because he didn't think Hank was as oblivious as they all thought, but Markus answered her.

"Connor put them away. They're in a safe spot."

Connor tried not to widen his eyes when the attention flitted to him. "Oh, good," she said, and then he heard her gasp softly as she gazed at him. "Connor, what hap—"

"Do you guys think I'm stupid, or what?" Hank said, and all three of them froze. Even cool and collected Markus looked affected by Hank's tone and words.

Hank began a slow and calculated walk around the table as he eyed the three of them with intensity. Connor never looked up from his plate, but that didn't mean he couldn't feel Hank's eyes burning holes into the side of his head.

"Something's up, and one of you three is gonna tell me." He paused, and Connor felt fire in his veins and his heart sink as he noticed Hank's feet had stopped right beside him.

He dropped his heavy hand onto his shoulder, and Connor jerked himself straight up.

"Connor? I know you have a tendency to have a loose mouth, and I'd like to hear what you have to say about everyone acting so weird."

Why was it always _Connor_?

 _No_ , he thought vehemently, and the steely resolve felt like the very first definitive decision he'd ever made for himself. No, it wasn't going to be him this time. He'd been the one to let his siblings down more times than he could count because he was afraid to lie to Hank, but he was tired of it. He was tired of being the loose canon in the bunch, and this time, if Hank was going to find out anything, then it wasn't going to come from Connor's lips.

Feeling high off the confident buzz, he looked Hank dead in the eye, totally ready to tell him that no, he knew nothing about their weird behavior, but Hank suddenly frowned at him and hit him with a question that knocked Connor off base.

"What in the hell is wrong with your eye, boy?"

"My eye?" he said, and once again rubbed at his irritated eye with the heel of his palm. "Nothing. It just itches, that's all."

The man scoffed and bent down on one knee to examine Connor more closely. "That's not all, it's as red as a tomato. Let me see," he said, and Connor dropped his hands to his lap. Hank angled Connor's chin between his hands so he could see his eye more better under the kitchen light. The direct light on his eye made it start to sting and water, and he groaned as he tried to escape Hank's grip.

"Looks like you've got yourself some nasty pink eye," Hank said. He let go of Connor, and it was a good thing because not a second later, Connor sneezed into his hand.

Hank's eyebrows rose. "Or, maybe it's allergies."

Everything was quiet, and Kara and Markus were still watching them with nervous glances, but the real trouble didn't start until Connor stood up to wash his hands. As soon as he got to his feet, everyone heard it: tiny little yelps were coming from the backyard.

Hank threw his hands up in exasperation as the three of them quietly shared nervous glances. "Great, now what?" he said and started for the backyard.

Once he was out of ear shot, they all gathered in close with their hands on the table. "What are we gonna do?" Kara said.

Markus' fingers were drumming along the tabletop anxiously as he thought. "I don't know, I don't know! I thought we'd have more time."

This whole thing was not working out the way they imagined. Markus was the mastermind, he always thought of a way out of these messes. But, he looked just as stumped as Kara looked and Connor felt.

They were going to end up right back where they started if someone didn't do something.

"Well, well, well," Hank said, and they all watched with dread as their foster father walked back into the house with Sumo cradled to his chest with one arm. "Look-y what I found running around in the shed. Now, I wonder how he got there?"

His tone made it very clear that he knew exactly how the puppy ended up in there.

Hank glanced at the three of them with disappointment dragging down his eyes, and Connor couldn't even look him in the eye, he felt so bad.

"Do you kids know what I do for a living?" No one answered, but Connor didn't think he expected an answer. "I look for the clues. I find them, and I analyze them, and I piece them together until I can make sense of the bigger picture."

Sumo was wrestling around in Hank's arms, and as he crawled up his chest and tried to lick at his face, Hank was having trouble keeping the stern look on his face.

Connor didn't want to say that hope bloomed in his chest at the small action, but something told him that maybe convincing Hank to keep Sumo wasn't going to be as hard as they all thought.

Markus stepped up to Hank with his hands folded behind his head. "Hank," he started, but he didn't seem to know what to say.

Kara tried to take over the apology train. "Please don't be mad," she said, and Connor noticed that she put on her extra sweet voice, the one that had Hank weak and to her will. "We all just wanted a dog so bad, and Connor said he didn't care about his allergies, so we thought if we could show you that we could handle a dog on our own, then you'd finally let us have one."

Hank listened to them as Sumo continued to lap at his neck and hands and arms. "I hear ya, kids, but you guys started this off all wrong. You started it off with a lie, and that's where the trouble started. Maybe if you guys had come to me before with this, I would have eventually let up and gave in. But, you guys lied; and more than that, you kept this poor thing out in the shed all night. I have so much junk in there, so many heavy boxes, anything could have fell on him through the night, and who would have known?"

Connor hadn't even thought about that. All he knew was that he had to buy Markus some time to get a plan together, which had turned out wonderfully.

"I'm sorry, but he's gotta go."

Markus balled his hands into tight fists as he slumped, and Connor knew he wasn't going to fight Hank when he sounded so resolute.

Beside Connor, Kara had started to whimper, and when he glanced over at her, he saw fresh tears in her eyes that hadn't spilled over yet. She wasn't one to make hysterics every time she got upset, so the fact that Hank's hard _no_ was enough to have her crying unabashedly in front of them hurt Connor and made his chest burn with a sudden wave of protectiveness.

Kara had always done everything in her power to make Connor feel included and to make him as happy as he could. From when he'd first arrived and she'd made him feel like a part of the family right from the start, to when she stood up to Gavin for him, she'd always had his back.

Connor thought it was his turn now.

He still had some leftover confidence from his earlier resolve that he wouldn't tell Hank anything and wanting to make Kara happy again gave him the extra strength he needed to walk over to Hank now and stand as tall as he could before him.

"Hank," he said, keeping his voice as steady as he could. "I knew when we decided this yesterday that maybe we shouldn't have. I didn't like lying to you, but it really felt like our last chance to have a dog of our own. We'll take good care of him, and we'll give him a lot of love, and he won't be any trouble to you, I promise. And, you don't have to worry about my allergies because maybe the doctor can give me medicine so I won't be sneezing all the time. We're really sorry for lying, and we'll make it up to you somehow. We'll clean the whole yard, or we'll make dinner for a week, and we'll get all A's in our classes, but please, _please_ , don't make us send him back. He has nowhere else to go; and plus, we already named him. His name's Sumo, if you wanted to know."

Speaking to Hank in such a way took a lot of courage from Connor, and once he got his words out and his point across, he let out a deep cleansing breath, feeling like he just took on the world.

Sumo was still wiggling around in Hank's arms, and Connor scooped him out of his arms and let Sumo bounce around in his own arms. If this was the last time he would get to hold him, then he wanted Sumo to know just how much he was loved.

A presence behind him had him looking to the side, and he smiled at Markus who had come up beside him to rub Sumo on the back. Kara came up on Connor's other side and let Sumo lick on her hands. She still had tear tracks rolling down her face, but she spared a sad smile for the little puppy.

The three siblings were huddled together and rubbing all over Sumo, when Hank said, "You named him Sumo? What the hell kind of name is Sumo, anyway?"

Connor glanced at him, and when he saw the slow forming smile on the man's face, his heart burst into a thousand different rays of happiness. He'd actually won.

Hank agreed to let them keep the dog, but only under one condition: they took care of Sumo on their own as long as Hank provided them with what they needed. All three of them eagerly agreed.

The allergy situation Hank still wasn't very pleased about, but he figured it wouldn't end up killing Connor, so as long as Connor didn't care that he had to take extra care of himself around Sumo, then Hank was okay with it.

It might not have seemed like a big deal to anyone else, but this had been a huge victory for Connor. He was there for his siblings when they were fresh out of ideas and defeated, and he rescued Sumo from being taken. Everyone thought Connor was going to end up ruining it for them all by blurting their secret out to Hank, but he showed everyone wrong, including himself, and he didn't think he'd ever been more glad to be proven wrong in his whole life.

If anything, this experience showed Connor that he was capable of being the hero once in a while. He wasn't just someone who needed protecting, and from that point on, Kara and Markus looked at Connor as someone they could rely on.

Their time was then filled with long days at the park with Sumo and fun nights in playing tag, and it wasn't very long before Sumo was half their size and almost as tall as they were. He grew bigger by the day, and Hank had joked that he now had four big mouths to feed.

And, despite all of his protesting, everyone knew Hank loved Sumo. He looked after the dog when they were in school, and during Christmas time, he bought Sumo just as many toys as he bought Connor, Markus and Kara.

Sumo was the perfect addition to their little family, and whenever Connor gazed at the dog while he padded around the house, he couldn't help but feel a certain attachment to him; Connor had saved him. Who knew where Sumo would have gone if he hadn't gathered the courage that day to fight for his right to stay?

He'd grown up thinking that he would never have a dog, and it had never occurred to him that he might have to fight for that dream. But, that's exactly what he did. And, if he was able to save one little dog from oblivion, then the world could only tell what Connor would be capable of going forward in life.

* * *

 **I thought Sumo deserved his own origin chapter.**

 **Just so it's out there, fluff isn't really my forte, so this chapter was a bit difficult to navigate, but I like how it turned out, and I hope it's okay :)**


	3. Operation: Markus

Connor was fifteen years old when he decided what he wanted to do when he became an adult.

He announced it at the dinner table one night as he and his siblings and Hank had sat down to eat some of the older man's mediocre spaghetti. Hank wasn't much for cooking, and the four of them tended to eat out most nights, but Hank had wanted a nice, quiet night in for once, and so he'd bought some noodles and sauce to fix for them. It wasn't the best spaghetti in the world, and Connor thought Hank put too much salt in it, but he ate it nonetheless with a grin on his face.

"I'm gonna be a detective," Connor said, and in his peripheral, he saw Hank freeze up for a moment.

Markus snorted sardonically from beside Connor and said, "Of course, you are."

Kara twirled some spaghetti around and around her fork as she glanced between Connor and Hank. "Just like Hank! You guys could be partners one day, how cool would that be?"

Hank chewed the bit of spaghetti he'd been eating and regarded Connor cooly, his narrowed eyes calculating. "Oh, yeah?" he said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "Why's that?"

Connor spooned another helping of spaghetti into his mouth as he shrugged. "Because I'm really good at solving puzzles. And, also because some of the cases are kind of fun."

"Yeah," Markus started, and Connor could already tell by his sour tone that he was going to say something stupid. "Like last month when Hank got called out in the middle of the night because some guy killed his uncle in cold blood. Sounds like loads of fun."

"Markus—" Kara said, ready to rip into him for spoiling their dinner, but Hank spoke up, and she fell silent.

"What's gotten into you lately, hmm?" he said, staring intently at Markus. Markus promptly ignored him and glared down at his almost empty plate as he mindlessly scraped his fork noisily against the glass plate. Hank raised his eyebrows and rested his elbows on the table as he continued to stare at Markus' annoyed face. "Cat got your tongue? You got nothing for me?"

Markus huffed and hastily pushed away his plate, the harsh sound echoing in Connor's ears. "Just leave me the fuck alone," he said vehemently and stormed away from the table. The sound of their bedroom door slamming shut shocked everyone into an awkward silence.

Connor and Kara stared at each other with wide, confused eyes, and even Hank looked flabbergasted as he turned to them for an explanation that they couldn't give.

Markus had never raised his voice or cursed so coldly at Hank before. They'd gotten into arguments before, but it was always warranted, and even then, Markus still had enough respect for the man not to curse at him. This outburst came out of nowhere, and that was surprising considering Connor or Kara almost always knew what was going on with him.

Connor didn't know what to think. Markus _had_ seemed a bit off since a few days ago when he spent the night at Simon's house, and Connor thought maybe they'd gotten into a fight. But, Markus insisted nothing was wrong, and even though Connor didn't believe him, he didn't push it. He figured Kara would get it out of him since they were closer.

From the shocked look on her face right now, though, he guessed he was wrong.

Hank scoffed disbelievingly as his sharp gaze alternated between his two kids. "What the hell is that boy's problem? You two know something that I don't?"

"I don't," Connor said, feeling just as conflicted as Hank.

Kara shook her head, her thin eyebrows scrunched up as she thought. "I don't, either. Maybe I can go—"

"No," Hank said resolutely before he pulled away from the table and started after Markus. "No, I'll talk to him."

The two of them watched with sinking hearts as Hank went through the hallway and knocked on their door; as well-meaning as his intentions were, they knew he wasn't going to get anything out of their secretive brother.

Markus didn't leave their room for the rest of the night, and when it was time for bed, Connor couldn't seem to get rid of the unsettling feeling in his stomach. He didn't know why, but Connor could feel a change in the air. Something was nagging at him, telling him that things were about to change, and he didn't like that feeling. He just wanted everything to be normal, to be right. To have Markus spitting harmless jokes at him, and to have Kara being her happy, carefree self, and for Hank to be the same old, comforting constant in his life.

Logically, he knew things couldn't be that way forever. They were going to graduate high school in a couple years and then they'd probably be off to college, and they'd all be separated for the first time since coming together when they were kids. Connor felt his eyes sting just at the very thought of it, and he tried to stop thinking about it.

Kara was setting up the couch for herself with some spare blankets from the hall, and Connor felt rooted to the spot behind the couch as he watched her. When she finally noticed his frozen state, she stopped her fussing and drew her eyebrows down as she gazed at him.

"Connor?"

She slowly made her way around the couch and touched his arm, and an idea popped into his head.

"Do you … do you wanna sleep in Hank's room with me?"

Kara looked confused, and she huffed a nervous laugh at his suggestion. "With Hank? We haven't done that in years."

"I know," he said, and brought his hand up to scratch at his suddenly warm neck. It was stupid. Just because he was feeling sentimental didn't mean Kara was. "Nevermind. I'll just go … get some more blankets."

She almost let him go, but before he could fully turn away, she grabbed his elbow and turned soft eyes at him. "I hope Sumo doesn't mind sharing Hank's bed for the night."

The embarrassment that had begun to creep up into his cheeks at her initial rejection halted at her agreement, and he could feel his bunched-up muscles begin to loosen. Kara gathered up the blankets in the living room and, together, they cautiously crept into Hank's room.

Hank was settling himself into his side of the bed when they walked in, and when he caught sight of them, he jumped, startled.

"Jesus Christ," he said, rubbing a tired hand over his eyes. "I'm getting too old for you kids to go around scaring me like this. You want me to have a heart attack?"

"Don't even joke like that," Kara said as she started confidently for the bed, arms full of blankets and pillows. "Connor and I are going to sleep in here tonight. I hope that's okay with you."

Hank raised his eyebrows at them. Kara didn't even ask, she just told Hank how it was going to be, and Connor smiled to himself at the way she commanded things. She tended to do that a lot, and she pretty much always got her way when it came to them.

"You two wanna sleep in here? Do you guys know how big you've gotten? I might just end up on the floor by morning with you two rolling around in your sleep."

In other words, it was a yes.

"Sumo, get down," Hank said, pushing his hardest against the big dog curled up on the other side of the bed. Sumo didn't budge, so Hank gave up on that and scooted himself over to the edge. He mumbled something about being shoved out of his own bed, but he made room for Kara and Connor nonetheless.

Kara scooted in close to Hank and he laid his arm out for her to use it as a pillow, then Connor only had a little bit of space to squish in between Kara and Sumo. He was a pretty thin teenager, so he just laid on his side and tossed an arm around his big dog.

It was a tight fit, and Hank was right about them being twice the size they were when they last spent the night in his bed, but absolutely nobody complained.

It was quiet for awhile, and Connor had thought that maybe they all fell asleep, but then Kara spoke up, her voice sounding small in the dark room. "Is Markus gonna be okay?"

Connor didn't know what to say. He didn't want to voice how he thought that their childhood was coming to an end and how maybe Markus was just the first to start drifting away. He didn't want to say any of this because he didn't want it to be true.

But, then Hank's gruff voice chimed in, and somehow, he was still able to make Connor feel better even through all his inner turmoil. "Markus is gonna be just fine. We'll get to the bottom of whatever's bothering him; we always do. Now, get some sleep, and quit your worrying before you worry yourself into the ground."

Kara seemed content with his answer, or maybe she was like Connor, and just didn't want to voice her doubts. Either way, Connor vowed to himself that he was going to figure out what was up with Markus. His brother was closing himself off and trying to drift away, but Connor wasn't going to let him do that, not if he could do anything about it.

* * *

Markus left out the next morning for school before anyone else woke up. Connor was the first to realize because he was always the first to wake up before anyone else; even Hank sometimes.

It made him sad to think that Markus was so upset about something that he didn't even want to confide in his siblings, and now he went so far as to leave the house so he didn't have to interact with them. Connor had to do something if he wanted to keep his family together, and he had to do it quick.

It was pretty easy to figure out where to start. The weird behavior hadn't started until last week when Markus came home from his sleepover at Simon's, and if Markus wasn't going to divulge any information from that night, then Connor would go to Simon.

Simon had been Markus' best friend for about two years now. They met when they started high school and were both placed in the same art class. It was an instantaneous friendship that seemed to sprout overnight and had been born out of their mutual love for art.

Markus had always been able to draw such lovely pictures, and their room was filled with drawings of his that he'd made over the years. His pencil drawings of his favorite TV characters were amazing, and he'd even made a few for Kara and Connor when they'd asked him.

One of Connor's favorites was of the cartoon version of the Tasmanian Devil from one of Markus' favorite cartoons when he was younger. It was hung up on the ceiling over Connor's head, and sometimes he found himself just gazing mindlessly at it in awe, wishing he was born with talented hands.

When Markus met Simon, he was so excited to finally have another artistic friend. Simon was also pretty talented with a pencil, but he was even more so with a paintbrush. He'd introduced Markus to the artistic world of painting, and since then, it had been on the top of Hank's shopping list to go out and get some new paints for Markus every couple of months.

Simon was a pretty cool guy, and Connor liked the few times Markus would invite him and Kara to hang out with them. Kara didn't tag along as much anymore since she had her own group of friends, but Connor almost always came when he was invited because he didn't really have a set group of friends like Markus and Kara did.

He did have friends, but he didn't have a best friend, and he didn't really have any friends that would choose him first over anyone else, so he always just sort of felt like he was drifting through school unnoticed.

Markus had Simon and their cool, art friends. Kara had Rose and their wholesome, smart friends. And, Connor had himself and Hank.

He knew his siblings felt bad for him, but Connor didn't want that. He was perfectly fine with just having casual relations with his peers on a surface level, but Markus and Kara took it upon themselves to include Connor in some of their group hangouts, and while Connor always appreciated the gestures, it also made him burn with embarrassment on the inside; like he couldn't get his own friends, so his siblings had to come to his rescue—as always—and provide for him.

With that thought hanging over his head, it sometimes made it unenjoyable to join them and their friends. But, he did his own thing in his spare time. Lately, after thinking seriously about wanting to become a cop like Hank, he'd really been into crime novels and crime TV, and he felt that he learned a lot from watching those shows.

Whenever a detective was handed a new case, if they couldn't find a lead off of the evidence first, then they went looking for witnesses or anyone close to the situation who might know what happened.

In this mysterious situation with Markus, Simon was that person of interest for Connor.

Connor left the house after he woke up Kara, and they were both careful not to wake up Hank. He didn't have to go into the office until noon today, and the poor man deserved some rest after the night they'd had.

Once they'd started high school, the three of them had started walking to school because it was close enough to the house, and also because they didn't want to be those kids whose parents dropped them off for school like they were in kindergarten.

Kara and Connor walked along the sidewalk side by side, the spot beside her glaringly empty.

"What do you think has gotten into him?" Kara said as she stared unseeingly at the space where Markus usually stood. Her voice sounded so at a loss, and Connor knew exactly how she felt. "I've never seen him get so mad before. And, where did it even come from? We were having a nice dinner and everything was fine. What are we missing, Connor?" She turned her sad eyes on him and without even thinking about it, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and she immediately leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Kara. I'll figure out what's going on with Markus, and … and … he'll be back to normal in no time."

He felt Kara's body heave with a heavy sigh, before she said, "I hope you're right."

He didn't want to doubt his own words, so he made a choice right then. Markus was going to be his new mission. He was going to figure out the root of Markus' behavior, and he was going to fix it.

And, Connor always completed his mission.

The day passed and not Kara nor Connor could catch a moment alone with Markus. Kara said she'd passed him in the hallway when he left his English class, but when he'd heard her call his name, he'd switched directions and stalked off the other way to avoid her.

After school, Kara had to stay behind for an eco-club meeting. She was in the environmentalist club, and they met after school for three days a week to talk about and find better ways the school could become eco-friendlier. Connor wasn't in any such clubs because nothing really interested him beyond a surface level, so he went home by himself.

He was just walking up the pavement to the house with his head down when he heard his front door slam shut. His head shot up, and he saw Markus bustling down the few steps toward him, eyes forward and past Connor as if his brother wasn't even standing there.

Before he could pass up the opportunity, Connor shot his hand out and grabbed Markus by the arm as the other boy tried to slide by him.

"Markus—"

"I gotta go," he said, easily breaking free of Connor's grip and stalking forward. Markus was stronger now than when he was that scrawny kid with the skinny arms. He had a bit more muscle to him now, and Connor always turned down his attempts at a play fight because he would surely walk away with some serious bumps and bruises.

Still, Connor couldn't let him just leave, so he tried one more time. He rushed up behind Markus' retreating form and pulled on his elbow again. "Wait, can we just—"

He wasn't prepared for Markus to whirl around so quickly, and he definitely wasn't prepared for the hard shove his brother gave him, and Connor ended up banged up the ground, his elbows burning from skidding against the concrete and his lower back feeling bruised because of his backpack.

Markus' eyes looked so tortured as he glared down at Connor, a range of emotions on the negative spectrum swirling through his face. His shoulders were tensed, and his whole demeanor radiated anger, but the longer he stared at Connor, the more he seemed to loosen up. His eyes began to soften with regret, and his mouth opened a little, as if he wanted to say something. But, then the moment got away from them, and Markus only shook his head and sighed. "I'm spending the night at North's," he said, and ran off, leaving Connor lying hurt and confused in front of their house.

After Connor squeezed his eyes shut to stop any tears that could come, he breathed in deeply and pushed himself up to his feet and let himself into the house.

Hank would be home soon, but Connor had enough time to fix himself up before then. He searched for the antiseptic spray and some bandages and locked himself in the bathroom to clean up the cuts on his elbows. It was a bit hard to see his elbows from his angle, but he could see that his elbows were a little bloodied from being skinned up. He managed to sterilize the open cuts, wincing and gasping every time the sting got too much. Then, he taped some gauze to cover the wounds. He might have put too much tape on there, but he didn't want any blood to accidentally seep through when he put on a long sleeve shirt to hide it.

Because he had to hide them from Hank. Connor was upset about what happened, but Hank would be _furious_ if he knew they were fighting each other like this. Hank always reminded them that they were brothers, and that they had to look out for one another, and if he knew Markus had done this, then he'd just be even more disappointed in the boy. It was hard enough trying to extract information from him now; having another reason for Hank to be upset with Markus was just going to make things worse.

Connor could feel the resentment coursing through him at being tossed around by his older brother, but he still wasn't going to let this stop him from his mission. He'd told himself and promised Kara that he'd figure it out, and damn it, he was going to do that no matter what he had to endure.

Although, he'd really prefer to come out of this without a black eye.

Once Hank and Kara got in later, no one really talked about how Markus wasn't there. When Hank realized that Markus left without asking, Connor had to stop him from going over to North's and dragging the kid back home. He told him it'd only make things worse, and Hank knew he was right.

Other than that, no one mentioned it again, and Connor hated the tension in the house. Hank was trying hard not to take out his bad mood on Connor and Kara as he snapped at them for little things like playing the TV too loud or leaving their shoes in the middle of the living room, and when it got to be too much for him, he called it an early night and shut himself in his room for the night.

Connor felt the burning sensation behind his eyes as he'd watched Hank dejectedly head for his room. He felt powerless to halt this wedge growing between Hank and Markus, and he didn't like feeling powerless.

Kara and Connor went to sleep early that night, too, because they were tired of the day; they just wanted to escape from the bad atmosphere. As they changed into their pajamas and got into their own beds, Kara reminded him about the next day.

"Don't forget that you're going with Hank in the morning."

Connor furrowed his eyebrows as he turned his head in her general direction. "What—? _Oh_. I completely forgot," he said, remembering.

Tomorrow was job shadowing day. A day where the 10th grade class went out and spent a day with an adult doing a job they were interested in. It was supposed to be a learning experience that gave students a glimpse into what it was like doing a job they hoped to have as an adult. Connor had been pretty excited to go with Hank and watch him do his job all day because yeah, he knew what being a detective was like, but getting up close and personal with the job was something Connor hadn't had the delightful pleasure to experience since he was ten years old.

Kara was scheduled to meet up with one of the nurses at the local hospital so she could do her job shadowing. She wasn't sure if nursing was the thing she wanted to do when she was older, but that's what this experience was for; so she could make an informed decision. Connor thought she'd be a pretty great nurse, though, because she was the sweetest person he knew. She took care of him and Markus and Hank when they were banged up more times than she probably should have, but she didn't mind it. She was a natural caretaker, and if she didn't have anyone to look after, he thought she'd probably just go mad.

Markus was supposed to head down to this fancy restaurant in the city to follow one of the chefs around the kitchen for his job shadowing. Markus definitely wasn't too excited about that because he was a dreamer, and he knew he was going to be a famous artist when he got older. But, the teachers said he had to pick a practical job to shadow, so Markus had figured why not follow a chef around and try different kinds of foods all day? If he was going to suffer, the he was going to _eat_ and suffer.

Connor hoped Markus remembered to go.

The next day, Kara and Connor were in the car as Hank drove toward the hospital to drop off Kara. It was eight o'clock in the morning, and things were off to a pretty good start.

Hank was in a better mood, and that was because North's mom had called and told him that Markus was fine and that she would be dropping him off at the restaurant for his job shadowing, so that felt like a weight lifted off of all of their shoulders.

As they stopped at the hospital, Hank wished Kara good luck, and she kissed him on the cheek and ruffled Connor's messy hair before running off inside. She was practically bouncing with excitement, and Connor couldn't help but let his own excitement flow throughout him. For the moment, everything was fine, so why not enjoy it while it lasted?

They pulled off from the curb, but when Hank started heading in the direction of the school instead of the precinct, Connor faced the man questioningly.

Surprisingly, Hank looked uncomfortable as Connor stared at the side of his face, and the older man scratched at his beard. "There's, uh … there's something I've been meaning to mention."

"Hank…" Connor said, not liking how nervous Hank appeared. What could possibly have him nervous to tell Connor?

Hank huffed a nervous laugh and smacked his hand on his thigh as he let it rest there. "It's nothing bad, it's just that one of the teachers called a few days ago and asked if I wouldn't mind letting a couple other kids tag along with us. It seems they're interested in policing, as well, so we're gonna go pick them up."

Connor inspected the man more closely, noting the way Hank still refused to glance at him and the way his eyes kept darting quickly from the road ahead of him to the sidewalk they drove past and the rear view mirror and basically anywhere that wasn't in Connor's direction.

"There's something else," Connor concluded, and Hank finally looked him in the eye.

"Who's the detective here, you or me? Jesus, son," he said, and faced the road once more.

"I've grown up with you, Hank. I told you the other night how great I was at piecing clues together, and who do you think I learned that from? Only the best lieutenant Detroit has ever seen."

Hank turned back to Connor with soft eyes at the praise before scrunching his face up in guilt. "Damn it, Connor, I'm sorry about this."

"About what?"

He didn't answer, but he didn't have to: Connor understood as soon as they pulled into the school parking lot.

Gavin Reed was standing on the sidewalk with somebody Connor didn't even focus on, and his body thrummed with anxiety and anger.

" _Hank_ —" he said vehemently, but Hank interrupted with a wave of his hand.

"Now, son, don't get all in a bunch. I have an obligation and a duty to provide for Detroit's children in any way that I can, and that includes all the slimy little kids, as well."

Connor still couldn't believe Hank would betray him like this. "But—"

"But, nothing," he said, and as Gavin and the other kid started for his car, Connor shut his mouth and crossed his arms angrily. "Come on," Hank said, pleading with him. "He won't be bothering you today, not with me around, and if he tries anything, I won't go easy on him."

"That'll just make it worse," Connor mumbled, too low for Hank to hear.

"Just … try to make the best of it. Okay? I really wish I could be the asshole to just tell them teachers to find someone else, but I don't want that reflecting badly back on you kids."

Connor sighed, knowing the man was right. He was going to tell him so, but then the back door opened and Gavin and the other kid got in, and Connor faced back out the window.

"So, I hear you two are interested in the dangerous ins and outs of being a cop," Hank said, and chuckled as he pulled out of the school. Connor died a little bit inside and sunk down lower in the front seat. He seriously hoped Hank wasn't going to be embarrassing today.

From the backseat, Connor heard Gavin sigh softly to himself. "Yes, sir. I hear detectives make quite the salary, and I'm interested in hunting down real, hard time criminals. Making the world a safer place, and all that."

Hank chuckled, and Connor could hear the taunting edge to it. "If you're here for the money, then you're barking up the wrong tree right now. I don't get paid enough for the shit I go through on the daily."

The other kid spoke up then, and Connor sat up straight as he recognized the voice. "If I'm being honest, Hank, I'm not really too keen on detective work. But, my counselor said I had to be rational and shadow a practical job for today. And, I've always thought this field of work was pretty cool, but I don't think I'll ever be brave enough to do what you do."

Connor hesitated before turning around in his seat and glancing at the boy behind him. His heartrate spiked, and his mind screamed in elation at the blonde kid fidgeting with his fingers.

It was Simon! It was just the boy Connor had been looking for, and since they'd be spending the day together, there was no way he wouldn't get to the bottom of this mess with Markus.

Without meaning to, Connor made eye contact with Gavin, and he mentally prepared himself for whatever secretive, mean glance he was going to throw his way since no one was looking.

But, it never came. Instead, Gavin studied Connor studiously, scrutinizingly so, and Connor hastily turned back in his seat before the other boy could notice just how hot he suddenly felt.

Hank glanced behind him to look at Simon before facing the road again. "Don't worry about it, Simon. Detective work isn't for everyone, and if you don't have the guts for it, it's better not to try and force it because some of this crap stays with you for your whole life. But, it's good of you to give it a chance, even if it's only for a day."

The rest of the ride was filled with the occasional sassy comment from Gavin, and Hank's equally snarky quip back at the boy. Hank had tried to put his heavy metal music on, but Connor couldn't handle that much embarrassment, and he winded the volume all he way down with a glare to Hank.

When they got to the precinct, the three of them hopped out and trailed after Hank as he made his way to his desk. Connor had been here countless times now, and the place almost felt like a second home to him. A few of the guys at their own desks greeted Hank and Connor as they passed.

"Got a full crew with you today, huh, Hank?" Chris said as he eyed the four of them amusedly.

Hank groaned dramatically and waved him off with a wave of his hand as he perused through his files at his desk. "They didn't make me the youngest lieutenant in Detroit for doing a half ass job. I do my part to help keep today's youth on the straight and narrow every now and then."

Gavin scoffed beside Connor, a look of disdain on his face. "I'm definitely feeling the love from our great city's 'protectors'," he said, lifting his fingers in air quotes.

Connor rolled his eyes and glanced at Simon, who was studying some pictures that were framed on Hank's desk. He watched curiously and quietly as Simon glanced cautiously at Hank, and when Simon found the man busy with his folders, he carefully picked up the framed photo Hank had of Connor and his siblings.

It was a picture of them when they were about 12 years old. Connor remembered that day very clearly because it was their first time going to the beach during the Summer. They'd been wanting to go for years, and when Hank finally had a bit of free time from his case load, he'd taken the three of them to Virginia Beach.

It was the first and only time Connor had ever been to the beach, and it was one of the best experiences of his life. The whole sunny day was filled with sand castles and boogie boarding and burying Hank in the sand until only his head was sticking out. They ended the day by walking along the boardwalk, and when they passed the huge carousel, Hank insisted on capturing a photo of the three of them in front of it.

Connor crept up behind Simon now and glanced at the picture. Sadness and happiness bloomed in his chest at the sight, a bittersweet feeling coursing through him. Those were good times, the best times of his life, and Connor was afraid those times were behind them for good.

"We were twelve in that picture," Connor said and Simon jumped in front of him and turned to face him with a look like he'd been caught red-handed. He relaxed when he realized it was only Connor. "Markus had just knocked my ice cream out of my hands. That's why I looked so upset beside them."

He reached out and took the picture from Simon's loose grip and smiled fondly at the memory. Connor was a bit off to the side, away from his siblings, and his eyes were red-rimmed from trying not to cry. Kara was beaming, and Markus was smirking, and Connor was about to cry. He thought that pretty much summed up their personalities.

Simon wrapped an arm around his midsection and grasped onto his other arm, swaying slightly in place. He was chewing on his lip, and Connor could practically feel the anxiety radiating off the kid. "Was Markus always so mean to you?"

"No," Connor said, smiling at Simon. "No, he's not always like that. It was just a bit rocky when I first came into the picture because he's a bit cautious of new experiences and new people. But, now we're like best friends; him, Kara, and I."

Simon bit his lip, and he looked as if he wanted to say something, but just didn't have the courage. Connor could feel that he was onto something, could feel that whatever was wrong with Markus, Simon held the answer. All he had to do was reach out carefully and take it.

"But, I'm sure you know how pig-headed he can be. I mean, you guys have been best friends for years," Connor said and watched him very closely.

Simon wasn't looking at him when he said it, but he was looking at the picture in Connor's hand. He was gazing so softly, and Connor furrowed his brows, wondering. If Simon and Markus were in a fight, why was he looking so fondly at the picture? Shouldn't he be angry? Or, maybe Simon had gotten over whatever spat they had and just missed him now?

Simon blinked up at Connor and glanced around to make sure no one could hear them. Hank had left them to go speak to Chris, and Gavin was still out of earshot as he explored the precinct with bright eyes. Then, he turned back to Connor.

"You and Markus tell each other a lot, don't you? Like, you know each others secrets, right?"

Connor was careful not to let his confusion show on his face, but he wracked his brain for the right answer here, for the answer that would satisfy Simon enough to open up. "Yeah," he started off, and was relieved when Simon's eyes widened in interest. "Yeah, we tell each other everything."

Now, _that_ was a lie. Markus did have his secrets that he kept to himself; Kara, too. Even Connor had his few keepsake thoughts and memories, but Simon didn't know this.

"Well," Simon said, and he looked immensely agitated now as he scratched at the side of his head. "Did Markus tell you what happened last week when he slept over at my house?"

The lights in Connor's head all went full on bright at this. _Yes_.

Connor put on a frown and gave the illusion that he knew everything. "Yeah, he told me. He's really broken up about it."

Simon's face crumpled in guilt. "He is? I told him I was sorry! I shouldn't have assumed, I should have asked first, but … I don't know. I guess I was just caught up in the moment."

Connor's mind was in overload mode the more Simon kept sputtering out words, and his mind tried to keep up with all the new information he was receiving.

Simon would have kept talking, but Hank had finally left his conversation with Chris to round the three of them up. As they all grouped together once more, Simon wouldn't look at Connor anymore, but that was okay. He was already beginning to piece together what could have happened at the sleepover; what _probably_ happened at the sleepover.

Hank sighed very dramatically as he gazed at the three kids standing in front of him, and Connor rolled his eyes. Hank was acting as if he didn't want to be doing this, but Connor knew the man loved imbuing a bit of knowledge into them. He was a natural caretaker.

"All right, kids, so we're not gonna be going out into the field or anything because I'm supposed to bring you back with your innocence intact, or whatever, and I never know what kind of crazy I'm gonna encounter out there, so—"

"With all due respect, _sir_ ," Gavin said, and Connor heard the slight there. "I was really hoping to get the full detective experience today. It's not every day I get to see what the real world is like, and we _are_ supposed to learn something today. What am I supposed to tell my counselor when she wants to know what we did today? Watched you sit at a desk and eat a donut? Bravo," he said and slowly started to clap his hands.

From the look on Hank's face, Connor knew he only had about two seconds to diffuse the situation before Hank would do something stupid.

Hank stalked toward Gavin and waved a finger in his face. "You listen here you little shit—"

Before Hank could get his hands on the collar of Gavin's leather jacket, Connor slid between them and formed a sort of protective barrier around Gavin.

"Hank, don't. He's just a dumb kid, not worth the risk; isn't that what you always say?"

Hank stopped when Connor scooted between him and Gavin, and his eyebrows rose in pure surprise. "What are you doing protecting this kid? _Especially_ this kid."

Connor dropped his slightly raised arms to his side, and straightened up. "I'm protecting _you_ , Hank. What are you thinking going after a minor like this, especially where there are witnesses around?"

Connor pointedly glanced around them and Hank joined him in taking notice of the few cops who had stopped their ministrations to watch the scene they were displaying.

Hank turned back to Gavin, and after throwing a searing glance at him, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then, he opened them, and Connor was relieved to see that the man had calmed himself down.

"Just … shut up and follow me," he said and started for the back of the precinct where they locked up their overnight criminals.

Simon headed after Hank first, but before Gavin could follow, Connor whirled around and pushed a hand to his chest to press him against the wall behind Hank's desk.

Connor was shaking with vexation and the force to keep Gavin there, but he found he didn't even have to try all that hard. After Gavin tried an initial attempt to escape, Connor reared his hand back while clutching the shirt beneath Gavin's open jacket and slammed him back to the wall, shocking him into silence.

"That is my _dad_ ," Connor said quietly, vehemently, and he very briefly let his anger at Gavin's disrespect show since Hank wasn't there anymore. "He might not be able to do anything to you, but those boundaries don't apply to me. And, I'm not the scared little kid you used to push around in elementary school. Show him some respect."

Gavin listened with an annoyed expression on his face, and once Connor finished, Gavin grabbed Connor's hand that was fisted in his shirt and thrusted it away from him.

"Lay off," he said, and smoothed his hands down his shirt where Connor had wrinkled it. "I don't think you want to be acting so tough when big brother isn't here to save you this time."

Connor scoffed. "Like I said, we're not 10 anymore. I'll do what I have to do to defend myself."

And, he would. If Gavin was ballsy enough to want to start a fight right there in the middle of a room full of cops, then Connor would do what was necessary to protect himself, even if that meant throwing hands at the boy; that was something Markus had taught him.

But, Gavin must have been smarter than he looked. He only narrowed his eyes and studied Connor in that peculiar way again, and once again, Connor couldn't help the flush that went through him at his intense gaze.

Gavin swallowed, and looked away. "Whatever. Don't get so worked up, you might fry your brain, or … something," he said, and Connor thought his voice sounded a bit shaky. Then, Gavin stalked off after Simon and Hank.

Connor eventually followed and joined the group and found Hank giving the other two an in-depth tour of the precinct. Connor already knew the ins and outs, all the secret places he could hide away to, and what lied behind every restricted door, so it was easy for him to tune out of the conversation they were having.

His stomach felt fluttery, and he couldn't quite define the source of it. He was anxious, yes, but that was because he was figuring out how to talk to Markus about what he wanted to talk to him about.

There was just a lightness to the airy feeling in him, and he couldn't understand why his heart felt like it was in his throat. It didn't help that every time he glanced at Gavin, the other boy was already looking at him, and they both looked away at being caught.

Connor tried not to think about it as the day drew on. After the tour, Hank brought some fellow officers over to talk to the three of them about what it was like going out on the scene and the responsibilities and duties cops had to the community. He hated to agree with Gavin, but the day had turned out to be pretty uneventful.

Gavin didn't give Hank any more trouble, though, and despite his earlier complaining of not being able to go out on a lead, Gavin seemed to enjoy learning about the job and talking with the officers. Simon wasn't as enthusiastic, but then again, Simon wasn't very excited from the beginning.

By three o'clock, the four of them were back in the car and headed back to the school.

"So, what did you boys think, hmm? Think you guys would wanna make a career out of this?" Hank said.

Simon was the first to answer. "I think I'd rather stick to my dream of becoming a small town art museum director. It seems much more safer."

Gavin answered much more confidently. "I can easily see myself becoming like one of those guys we talked to today."

Hank glanced at Connor, and elbowed him slightly in the arm. "How about you? I know you didn't learn anything today you didn't already know, but is this still something you want?"

Connor faced Hank, and for the first time, he could see te apprehension on his face. As if he was scared but resigned to what Connor was going to say.

"Of course, I still want this. It's what I was meant to do, I know it."

The slightest twitch of Hank's eyebrows let on to Connor just how much Hank had an opinion about Connor's career choice—and for some reason, he didn't think the man approved.

When they got to the school, Simon said quick goodbyes to Connor and Hank and let himself out. Gavin scooted over to the open door and had one foot out on the concrete when he hesitated.

"Sir," he said, and Connor turned around in his seat at the sincere tone so he could see his face. Gavin's eyes were downcast and his lips kept tweaking up to one side as if he were nervous, and then finally he shook his head and turned to Hank. "I'm sorry. About earlier. I actually did learn a little something about what it's like being a cop in Detroit, and I really hope that's something I can be a part of one day."

Connor could feel the shock on his face at the unassisted apology, and he tried to tone it down before Gavin could notice.

Hank hummed a noise of approval before he said, "Don't worry about it, kid. You'll grow out of that bad attitude once you begin training in the academy. Your superiors will definitely see to that." He chuckled good-naturedly and turned back around to face the parking lot.

Gavin scoffed quietly to himself and squinted at the back of Hank's head, and Connor had to stifle his laugh from how rejected Gavin looked. Before he left the car, he shot a glance at Connor, and any humor he'd been feeling instantly flitted away at the look. Connor was filled with such wonder as Gavin gazed openly at him, no hostility in his eyes, and even a bit of remorse swam there. It made Connor's belly do weird flips again, but before he could really think about the look, Gavin cleared his throat and hopped out of the car, the bang of the car door slamming shut echoing in his ears the entire ride home.

Connor was tired, and he still wanted to mentally prepare for what he planned on asking Markus, and so he asked Hank to drop him off at the house before he went to pick up Kara from the hospital.

The lights were all off in the house when they pulled up to the curb, and they figured Markus hadn't made it in yet. When Connor walked in, though, he immediately knew he was wrong; someone _was_ home.

Markus' shoes were by the door, and his jacket was on the rack, and Connor's heart rate accelerated at the objects. He thought he'd have more time to prepare something thoughtful, something understanding, but they had the house to themselves for a moment, and Connor wasn't going to waste this opportune moment.

He toed off his shoes and slipped off his jacket and headed straight for his room.

Markus was sitting cross legged on his bed, his arm waving back and forth as he painted across a nearly white canvas that was lying on the bed. When Connor walked in, Markus didn't look up, but Connor could see his strokes jerk ever so sharper.

His theory was coming together in his mind, and he thought about how best to approach the subject.

"Did you go to that restaurant today? For the job shadowing?" Markus didn't answer, and Connor stepped closer into the room, bringing his hands together as he rubbed them anxiously. "I had an interesting day," Connor continued, and he sat down on his own bed across from Markus'. "Hank had to bring a few kids from school along with us, and guess who was one of them?" After a pause, and still no reaction from Markus, Connor said, "Gavin."

Finally, Markus acknowledged Connor's presence in the form of a snort. "Reed?" he said, and Connor smiled at the hint of disdain the boy could still bring out of Markus. "How mean was Hank to that dickhead today?"

Connor gave a tentative laugh and rubbed his hands together as he leaned forward. "It was very passive aggressive, I would say. I had to intervene at one point to keep Hank from getting slapped with some assault charges."

Markus laughed to himself and finally stopped his brushing. He glanced at Connor, and once their eyes connected, the other boy's humor began to fade once more.

Connor figured it was now or never.

He gathered a deep, centering breath to steel himself before he started. "Someone else came along today," he said, and wasted no time with dramatics this time. "It was Simon."

Immediately, Markus locked himself up, his shoulders tensing and his eyes closing off and narrowing.

Connor continued, wanting to get it all out before he could lose his courage. "He didn't tell me everything, but he told me enough for me to—"

"Connor, just shut up," he said exasperatedly, but there was an edgy undercurrent to it.

Connor was unperturbed. "He said that he—"

"You don't know what you're talk—"

"Did he kiss you?"

And, there it was. It was the only logical explanation Connor could come up with based on Simon's tidbit information and Markus' behavior. Those were the few clues he'd been given, and based off the way Markus suddenly faced him with fearful, wide eyes, Connor knew he'd been right.

Connor stood up and raised his arms in the most vulnerable way he could, not wanting Markus to feel cornered. "It's okay, Markus. You don't have to be scared. It's just me here."

Markus had started panting slowly but heavily, and the paintbrush in his hand slipped out of his grip as he tried to make sense of his situation. Connor still had his hands up placatingly until he was in the middle of the room. "You know me. Talk to me."

His words were soothing, but Markus only looked more upset. Before he could blink, Markus was standing in front of him and alternating between clenching and unclenching his hands. Connor never dropped his.

"Have you— have you said anything to Kara? To _Hank_?" Markus' voice was hard, making his words sound rough.

"No, of course not. I wasn't sure before, and I wouldn't tell them anything like this without talking to you first."

Markus seemed to relax at this, but he didn't settle into that feeling. He began pacing in front of Connor as he brought his hands up to his temples. The sight made Connor's heart clench, and all he wanted to do was grab his brother into his arms.

"What happened?" Connor said.

Markus' hands had slid up to clasp behind his head, and he stopped his pacing to stare at one of his pencil drawings on the wall. "Connor, I … I can't," he said, his voice breaking, and his eyes began to water.

"Markus," Connor said softly, and he couldn't hold back anymore. He reached out and placed his hands on his older brother's shoulders, and before he could say another word, Markus pulled Connor to him in a tight hug. Markus' hands clutched around Connor's back so hard, and his fists bunched into the fabric of Connor's t-shirt desperately as he hid his face into the crook of his neck.

He could feel the wetness seeping into his neck, could feel the shuddering throughout Markus' body as he cried into his neck, but Connor just held on tighter.

They stood there for a while just holding onto each other, and when Connor remembered how Hank would be getting back soon with Kara, he reluctantly patted Markus on the back, hating that he had to cut the moment short.

"They should be getting home soon," he said gently, not wanting to taint the quiet atmosphere. Markus was done crying, and he pulled away from Connor, sniffing and wiping at his eyes using the neckline of his shirt.

"Yeah," he said roughly. "Right." Once he finished wiping his tears, he swallowed and glanced at Connor. His eyes zeroed in on the damp and wrinkled area of Connor's shoulder, and he winced. "Sorry about fucking your shirt up."

Connor shrugged at the unimportant detail. "That's nothing. I just want to know what's going on with you. You haven't exactly been yourself lately. Or, pleasant," he said, and Markus huffed a shaky laugh at that.

"Man, I've just been … dealing with a lot. Trying to figure myself out. It's not easy, though, and I don't know, I guess I didn't really like what I was finding."

"But, why? Is it because— I mean, did Simon really…" Connor started, not wanting to be crass and state the obvious.

"Kiss me?" Markus said, finishing for him. "Yeah, he did." He rubbed a hand over his mouth as he sat down on Connor's bed. Connor followed suit.

"And, so what was the problem? You didn't like it, or..." Connor said, wanting Markus to talk this out because Connor was tired of trying to guess and piece things together. He'd already gotten the big stuff down, and really, only Markus could provide the rest.

Markus sighed and rubbed his sweaty palms on his jeans. "Oh, Connor, this is so hard for me, and I haven't had anyone to talk to."

"I'm here to listen, Markus. I've always been here for you. I don't know why you didn't come to me before."

"I know," Markus said, and he sounded so disappointed in himself. "I mean, I knew that you wouldn't judge me or anything like that. And, Kara, too. Even Hank. But, it's just not something that you bring up at the dinner table, you know? And, I feel horrible for treating you all like I did. And, yesterday— Damn it, _yesterday_." He faced Connor with eyes full of regret. "I'm sorry about knocking you down. I didn't actually hurt you, did I?"

Instinctively, Connor gently touched his elbows and felt the padding from his bandages still. "I'm not made of glass. I'll live through a few scrapes and bruises. It's nothing worse than we used to do when we were kids."

Markus nodded to himself, but he still looked upset. "Still, it shouldn't have happened. I was just so full of anger. And, I was scared."

"Scared of what?"

Markus glanced at Connor and sighed. "All right. I guess I should start at the beginning." Markus slid one knee up onto the bed and began playing with the loose strings on his pant leg. "It happened that night I slept at Simon's. It was really late, like 3 in the morning before we decided to go to sleep. We were just lying on his bed together and talking about what life would be like when we were famous painters who lived in Paris." Markus smiled, and Connor could feel his own lips curl up softly.

"Then, something in the air changed. It felt like something charged the air, and then when I looked over at Simon, he was just staring at me, and then he … he just kissed me."

Markus practically whispered those last words, and his face looked so gentle as he remembered the memory.

Connor licked his lips and bit on his bottom lip as he thought. "You don't look angry now talking about it. So, why have you been?"

Markus blinked a few times before focusing on Connor. His eyebrows furrowed as if he didn't understand why Connor would ask that.

"Because," he said, as if Connor were stupid. "Because I've never kissed anyone, let alone a guy, and he totally caught me off guard. I didn't know if he meant to do it, or what he wanted from that kiss, or what he wanted from _me_ , and I just … panicked."

"What did you do?" Connor asked.

"I left. He started apologizing, and I thought he regretted it, and that's so fucked because how could he do that and not mean to? So, I left in the middle of the night and went to North's."

Connor thought things were beginning to finally click into place in his mind, and he tried to explain to Markus a possible point of view he might have missed. "When I was talking to Simon earlier, I did not get the feeling that he regretted anything. Well, at least not about kissing you."

Markus looked troubled as he placed his foot back on the ground and clutched onto the end of the bed with both hands. "What do you mean? What did he say exactly?"

"It wasn't so much what he said, but how he said it. And, how he acted. He was so wrecked just talking about you, and he kept stuttering and telling me he was sorry. I didn't really know what he was talking about, but it wasn't hard for me to piece together. Especially after how he looked at that picture of us that sits on Hank's desk."

Markus turned to Connor with piqued interest. "The one we took at the beach? How did he look?"

Connor couldn't help the fond smile that lifted his lips as he remembered Simon's open face. "He looked at it, at _you_ , like he missed the hell out of you; like he'd lost something special that he'd never get back. He looked so sorry and happy and sad all at the same time."

The sight of Markus' eyes lighting up was something that had Connor's little heart glowing. He'd missed that smile so much over the past week.

"Really?" Markus said.

Connor nodded. "I think there's just a big miscommunication going on between you and Simon right now, and I'm pretty sure he'd be ready to talk whenever you are."

"Yeah," Markus said. "I sure hope I didn't scare him off. I mean, he's my best friend, and I don't wanna lose him."

Connor reached behind and gripped Markus' shoulders and squeezed lightly. "You won't. He misses you just as much as you miss him. So, you can quit moping and go be happy again."

Markus began to grin, and it was the first genuine bout of happiness he'd seen from him all week. Markus opened his mouth to say something else, but Hank and Kara chose that moment to come home, and the sound of their front door opening had Markus jumping up from the bed, startled.

"Anyone home?" Kara yelled, and Connor stood up. Markus turned to Connor and tried again to say something to him, but then Kara walked into the room, and anything he'd been trying to say was forgotten about.

"Hey—" she said, but Markus scooping her up into his arms had her ending in a light squeal. Connor smiled as the mixed emotions washed through her face, starting from startled and confused to relief and elation.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and grinned so hard her eyes squeezed shut. Kara was the cutest and sweetest girl Connor knew, and seeing and making her happy was something all three of the guys in the house loved to see.

The hug was brief, and when Markus set her back down, she didn't want to let go, so she only slid her hands down to his shoulder as she looked him over.

"I've been so worried about you, you jerk," she said, but she was smiling.

"I know," Markus said. "And, I'm sorry for being so cold to you and everyone else. But, I just needed a minute to myself to think, I guess."

Kara smoothed her hands along Markus' shoulders, making him look neater that before. "But, you're okay now?"

"Yeah," he said, and Connor could tell he was being genuine when he said it. Markus pivoted sideways to glance at Connor, and within seconds he was under Markus' arm. Kara grabbed Connor's other side until the three of them were huddled together and laughing.

That's how Hank found them moments later, and as soon as they realized he was standing there, both Kara and Connor moved to the side to let Markus speak.

Markus had a bit of sweat on his brow, and he gulped as he took Hank in. Then, he walked a bit closer to the man.

"Hank," Markus started, and he looked nervous as all hell, but he was trying really hard not to show it. "The way I spoke to you a few nights ago was totally not cool. Unacceptable, I mean. I feel really bad about that, and I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am because—" Markus said, and his voice cracked at the emotion the boy was trying to beat down. "Because you've done everything for me for half of my life, now, and you don't need to put up with my temper tantrums, too."

Markus couldn't say anymore or else Connor knew the boy would be full on crying again, but what he said was enough. Hank stepped forward with the softest eyes and pulled Markus' head to his chest. The two wrapped their arms around each other, and finally some relief took root in Connor's chest.

Maybe everything wasn't going to change. He'd been so afraid that Markus was pulling away, but Connor was able to reel him back in.

He'd accomplished his mission.

Hank shook Markus in his arms once. "It takes a real man to apologize and to recognize when his head was in the sand," he said, and pulled back enough to gaze Markus in the eyes. "I don't expect every day to be a picnic with you, and that's okay. I just want you to know that we're all here for you no matter what's bugging you. You don't have to keep all those nasty feelings inside because you're not living this life alone here."

"I know that," Markus said, and took a deep breath. "I guess I just need reminding sometimes."

Hank looked over top of Markus' head to glance at Connor with a question in his eyes, and Connor nodded, letting him know that Markus was truly going to be okay.

Kara flitted over to Hank and Markus and wrapped her arms around them both. "That'll be the day when I let you try to think for yourself. I leave you alone with your thoughts for a week and you almost work yourself into a dark abyss. Never again, Markus. I don't care if I have to be the annoying, overbearing sister, but I'll never let you believe that you have to go through life alone."

It amazed Connor as he watched the three of them just how accepting they were. They still knew nothing about what Markus had been going through, and yet they already forgave him when he tried to make amends. They didn't ask why he was upset or for any of the gritty details, and all they wanted to know was if Markus was okay right now.

He guessed they knew that Connor had finally gotten through to him, and maybe that was enough for them. So long as one person knew what happened and was able to make Markus feel better, then what else was there to be said about the situation other than to move on and forgive each other?

He tried really hard not to, but the emotion he felt at witnessing such a pure reunion with nothing but love had Connor's eyes getting blurry, and he turned his head to the side as he subtly tried to wipe his eyes.

"Connor, son, get your butt over here," Hank said, and Connor laughed to himself, trying to shake away the emotional blanket he was stuck under.

"Come on, guys," Connor said, and sniffed as he gazed at his family. They were all facing him with expectant glances, and Connor tried to calculate the chances that he could make it to the door without being caught.

His chances were dismal.

"No way, man, if I have to be stuck in this hug, then you're definitely not scheming your way out of this," Markus said.

" _Con_ _nor_ ," Kara said, saying his name in a sing song-y voice. Then, she reached over and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and brought him into their circle. Hank's heavy arm fell across Connor's back and Markus' arm came up to wrap around his waist, and he figured this actually wasn't so bad.

Life could definitely be worse.

* * *

 **Hiiii! So real quick, I wanted to start off by answering a couple people from the reviews.**

 **To the guest who asked what gave me the idea to write this: I was actually inspired by a piece of fanart someone else had drew on tumblr. It was a drawing of Connor, Kara, and Markus as children and Connor was holding onto's Hank's hand. I don't remember who drew it, but I know it's on tumblr, so you could probably just sort through the art on there until you find it. But, yeah, so it was so adorable, and I couldn't help but picture the four of them as a family like that, and so that is how this came to be.  
**

 **And to Sakin2003: Connor and Kara are going to have their own bonding chapter, so I hope you enjoy that one :)**

 **And thanks to everyone who reviewed and faved and all that good stuff. It literally makes me smile like an idiot every time I see that this fic made you guys feel stuff and smile, and I just feel so humbled I guess by this fandom in general because you guys are so nice and cool.**

 **I plan on having about two more chapters in this fic left, and since Connor had his bonding moments with Hank, Sumo, and now Markus, Kara is going to be next! So, I hope this chapter was good, and thank you again for reading :)**


	4. For Kara

Prom.

It was a word in every high schooler's vocabulary. A word that brought joy and happy nerves throughout one's hormonal body. A word that teenagers associated with first and lasts. A word that signified the beginning of the end.

It was spring time in Detroit, and Connor's high school graduation was only two months away. The past couple of months had been such a hassle with Connor, Kara, and Markus preparing to leave high school, and Hank had been kept pretty busy with helping them move along in that process. They had already applied and been accepted to various colleges, they'd picked the best one for them, and so now their time was spent shopping for college stuff they'd need, like bed sheets and laptops and much to Markus' insistence, a mini fridge.

Graduation was pretty scary, but that's not all everyone was talking about. All the hype everyone was making about prom night was infectious, and the three siblings found themselves getting more and more excited for the big dance as it loomed ever closer.

But, no one was truly having a more spectacular time preparing than Kara was. The elegant 18-year-old had spent many days dress shopping for the perfect dress, going from one dress shop to the next when she couldn't find quite what she was looking for. Markus and Connor had initially assisted her on these day trips because she'd wanted their opinions about whatever dress she was trying on, but when they realized that dress shopping for her was going to take _days_ , then the two boys had fumbled excuses about how they had to get their own suits together and were suspiciously absent when she had next planned to go to the boutique.

Which was a lie. Connor, Markus, and Hank had gone out looking for a tux for the two of them weeks ago and had found one within the first day.

Kara was so busy planning for an event that was a month away, that she'd nearly forgotten about the heartbreak she'd suffered less than a week ago.

Her boyfriend of about four months thought it was okay to break up with her via text last week—a month before prom.

Connor had met up with his siblings after school that day, and Kara came to them sullen with her eyes red-rimmed from trying not to cry in school. Markus was instantly on her, demanding to know what happened. She hadn't wanted to say anything there because she knew Markus would flip out, so she'd dragged them a few blocks away from school before she'd told them.

That slimy, bastard Evan had spent the entire day with her as if nothing was wrong, as if everything was okay between them. And, then, in her last class of the day, she'd received a text from him—while he was sitting _three rows in front of her_ —telling her that he thought they worked better just as friends.

It was the kind of move Connor had expected from someone as non-confrontational as Evan, and while Connor had never liked the polo-wearing chess club president, he'd never thought he'd do someone as sweet as Kara wrong.

Markus was absolutely livid and had taken it as a personal affront to himself when someone messed with his little sister, but Connor was able to reason with him. Surely they'd get him back, but it was going to be smart, be covert, and no one would get suspended in the last couple months of high school.

Of course, now that left the problem of Kara having no date to the prom. All she'd been talking about before her nightmare of a breakup was how Evan was going to ask her to the prom. Was he going to be flashy and have the question written out in huge, vibrant colored letters somewhere very public in the school? Would he be intimate and take her out to a romantic dinner to ask her?

She tried not to show it, and she insisted that she didn't need a date to the prom, and she'd have a good time with her friends, but Connor could tell that all her prom spirit had diminished significantly when she realized that she would get no invite at all. All she'd ever wanted was to be like other girls, and traditional girls got asked to the prom in a big way.

The thought that this would be just another let down in Kara's life… Well, Connor just wouldn't have that.

A couple days after her breakup, Connor was on fire with nerves as he paced nervously around his house. It was stupid because of course everything was going to go well, but still, there was always that nagging doubt.

Was he being too over the top? Was he not flashy enough?

It didn't matter now. Everything was in place.

Markus and Hank zoomed around the house to put the finishing touches on the makeshift art gallery Connor had orchestrated. There was entirely no space to walk in the cluttered house as he skimmed past the many tri-fold boards that were set up and jumped over Sumo, who was helpfully cuddled up right in the middle of the only path they'd cleared.

Kara would be home from eco-club any minute now, and Connor was tinged with nerves.

Two slaps on his shoulders had him jumping in the spot, and he hastily turned to see Hank standing behind him, light in his eyes.

"Relax, son, what's the worst she can say?"

Connor's eyebrows flew up at the obvious answer. "Um, no?"

Hank merely laughed before he ruffled Connor's still floppy hair. He'd never actually managed to change up his hairstyle, and so it remained messy like his ten year old self.

Connor groaned and tried to smooth his hair back into its natural mess and smoothed down his button down shirt. He'd actually dressed for the occasion, and was wearing one of his pale blue button down shirts and some dark, blue skinny jeans. It wasn't much of a dress up, but for Connor's usual laidback style, it was fancy.

"She's walking up!" Markus said as he jumped away from the curtain before she could spot him. Connor gulped and tried and failed to take a breath. He was just too damn nervous, and he'd never done anything like this before; never thought he ever would, actually.

Markus hurriedly jumped off the couch to stand before Connor and guided him through a breath. "In," Markus said, and Connor breathed in, held it. "And, out." Then, he exhaled deeply. They repeated that one more time before Connor could finally take a breath like a normal person. Markus smiled, all teeth, and knocked Connor's chin with the side of his finger. "Go get'em, tiger."

Markus had just enough time to leave the living room when the front door opened, and in walked Kara.

All the lights in the house were on, so she saw everything as soon as she walked in. Immediately, her bright eyes widened and her jaw dropped and whatever she'd been carrying in her arms fell to the floor as she gazed in wonder at the art gallery the boys had spent two hours setting up.

"What…?" she said, at a loss for words, and Connor took this as his cue. He hurriedly stepped up to her and held his sweaty hand out to her, just like Hank had said to.

"I have something to show you," Connor said, and Kara finally tore her awed gaze away from all the photographs and drawings that were strung up on the boards to glance at Connor.

He was really starting to feel the pressure now, but as soon as she placed her soft hand in his, everything cloudy in his mind drifted away, and he was able to see things clearly now.

He had nothing to worry about.

He guided her to the first art board in the lineup, and she had to have felt how sweaty his palms were. He was extremely grateful she never mentioned it, though.

The board in front of them showcased a few photographs from the beginning of their time together, and one drawing Markus had made specifically for this moment.

"When I was 10 years old," Connor started, feeling more confident now, "I met a family. I didn't know it then, but that family was going to become my _own_ , and one of the very first memories I have of that family is of you." Kara turned to glance at him, and already he could see how bright her eyes were with unshed tears. "How you immediately let me in and made me feel like a part of you guys when I was so terrified of being in a new place. How you took my hand and could make all the scary feelings go away. How you came to my rescue and pushed Gavin around when he used to bully me."

Kara giggled wetly at that, and wiped at her eyes. "He doesn't do that anymore," she said softly, and turned to gaze at all the photos.

"Yeah, and I'm almost 100% positive it's because he's scared of you."

Kara laughed once, and faced him with curious eyes. "I don't think that's it."

Connor flushed on the inside.

Kara began walking ahead of Connor as she glanced at the few boards in the living room. All these photographs were pictures of Kara, Markus, and Connor when they were kids. There was one where they were planting flowers in Hank's front yard, dirt all over their hands and face. There was another where they were hanging out of the windows of one of the police cars as the sirens blasted red and blue in the picture.

And, more than the photographs, were drawings Markus had made, all of them tailored to this occasion. Connor knew she loved Markus' drawings, so he'd asked him if he could draw some of their greatest moments for her.

She stopped in front of one of his drawings and laughed, clutching a hand to the necklace at her throat. "Is that Gavin on the floor?"

"Yeah," Connor said, leaning over her shoulder to inspect the drawing. It was pretty inevitable that Markus punching Gavin to the ground that one day would be included in their highlights reel. Markus didn't only include himself, but Kara was also in the drawing, with a hand on her hip and her fingertips pointed angrily in Gavin's direction, a mirror image of reality.

The living room showcased their early years together when they were carefree kids with no worries but what game they were going to imagine up that day.

As they progressed toward the kitchen, Kara stopped to point at a picture right before they left the living room. "And, our first picture with Sumo!"

"Of course," Connor said. "He was one of the highest parts of our childhood."

"Yeah," she said softly, and took his hand once more as he guided them into the kitchen.

These were their teenage years. There were more drawings than pictures because their adolescence had been _harsh_ on them, and he didn't think any one of them liked to relive the red-faced, gangly armed, awkwardness they had all went through. So, Markus drew pictures to make those years look more aesthetically pleasing for the moment.

Markus had drew many memories of their teen years, starting with the epic thirteenth year they had where Kara broke her wrist trying to swing across the monkey bars at the park. She'd thought she'd be funny and had tried to skip the first couple bars and jump straight to the third bar, but she'd miscalculated her strength and the bar slid from her grasp, and she'd fallen right on her wrist, snapping it out of place. She had to wear a cast for six weeks, and almost everyone in their 8th grade class had signed the pink cast that covered her arm and stopped right below the elbow.

In this drawing before them, Markus drew her sitting below a monkey bar set with the cast on her arm, her middle finger aimed right for the bars.

Kara gazed in wonder and laughed at the various scenarios displayed through the pictures pasted up on the boards in the kitchen. They were slowly working their way to the bedroom, but Connor still had something else to say before they left this room.

He blocked the way to the hallway off and waited for her to notice before he started off again.

"The gallery in this room, while I know is probably not your favorite, holds some of the best memories for me. These are the years that I really came into myself and found out what kind of person I was. What kind of person I could be. And, I don't think I would have been half as sure if I hadn't had you there with me."

Kara was smiling as she shook her head and looked away to the boards, and he could see that she was trying not to cry again. Connor, himself, was finding it difficult not to get emotional. He was really bringing up everything here, and being vulnerable was something that was a bit hard for him. But, for Kara, he could do just about anything.

"You always had my back when I needed it. When I was falling behind in English, and you set out a whole week for us to just study together, and then I passed the big test at the end of the week? You knew I would have failed 10th grade if I didn't get at least a C on that test, but with your help, I was not only able to achieve that C, but I got an _A._ And, _you_ did that."

Kara grabbed up his hands in her soft ones and squeezed them before giving him a pointed look. "No, Connor. _We_ did that. You're not dumb, and you're way better at math than I could ever hope to be."

Connor huffed a laugh and shook his head. "Shut up," he said gently, "Let me do this."

Kara giggled and zipped her lips shut with her finger.

"My point is, you've always been the force behind me when things got too hard. I know I had Markus and Hank, and of course I'm grateful to them, but I'm not sure I ever really expressed my gratitude to you especially. And, so that's why there's something I still have to ask you."

Kara took in a shuddering breath, her wet eyelashes so dark on her pale face. She was still smiling, but she was looking at him in confusion.

Connor tightened his grip on her hands and led her to their room, where the tour was about to end.

When they walked in, Connor was a little astonished at how well Markus and Hank had done glamming the place up. They'd strung up some fairy lights along all four corners of the ceiling, dangling prettily in slight drops across the wall, encasing the room in a soft glow. All four of their walls were blocked by more tri-fold boards, but there were no pictures on these: only words cut from vibrantly colored poster boards.

Seven words. One question.

Kara couldn't hold her next wave of tears in. As soon as she read the question, and saw Markus and Hank standing off to the side with smiles on their faces and flowers in their hands, she burst into tears.

Usually when Connor saw his older sister cry, he felt anger and sadness and was always overcome with protectiveness. Now, though, he only smiled through his own tears that had silently fallen down his cheeks and wiped a thumb under her eye.

"Kara," he said gently, and he waited for her to calm her heaving breaths. She wiped at her eyes to clear them of stray tears, and took a deep, steadying breath before he went on.

"You're the best sister I ever could have hoped for. And, to think that I might have had a life without you in it just makes me realize how much I love you, and how I was lucky to meet you and to be brought into this family when I did."

Connor's throat was getting tight, and he had to take a moment to collect himself. Damn it, who said a prom proposal had to be so emotional?

"What happened to you last week with Evan was so shitty—" he said, and abruptly turned toward Hank for a second. "Language, I know. Sorry."

Hank only waved him away with his free hand as if he should just get on with it. So, he turned back to Kara.

"He's a real jerk for what he did to you, and I think he must be dumb, too, because he gave up the opportunity to go to prom with a beautiful and kind and sweet girl, and that is a hundred percent going to be his biggest regret."

Kara huffed a watery laugh, and she couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from him as he spoke.

"I know you already coordinated your outfit to match his, but I'm hoping you can change that."

Connor gulped as the moment finally arrived, and when he turned around to face Markus, he found his brother already standing beside him with his arms out, a small bouquet of flowers in his hands. He took the bouquet with shaky hands and focused back on Kara.

"Will you go to prom with me?"

He barely had a second to blink before Kara was wrapping her arms around his neck so tight, stealing the breath from his airway. The flowers in his hands were no doubt getting crushed by her closeness, but he didn't think she cared.

Kara's soft tufts of giggles were pretty loud in his ear, and it was the richest sound he could have heard.

This was the prom proposal Kara wanted and deserved, and he was so glad that he was able to pull it off for her.

When she finally let go, she bounced down to her feet, all smiles and bright, wet eyes, and she was just glowing. She took the broken flowers in her hands and tried to fix them back up, but it was a lost cause.

She gave up on that and gazed up at him, and he suddenly remembered that she never actually answered him.

"Oh, Connor," she said, her voice cracking. "I don't even know what to say."

From his peripheral, he could see Hank step forward with a hand raised. "I think the poor boy deserves a solid _yes_ just for the effort this all took to put together _._ Just my opinion, is all. Feel free to break the boy's heart if that's what tickles your fancy."

Kara glanced at Hank and laughed twice. "Stop that," she said, then she turned back to Connor. She cradled the broken flowers to her chest with one arm and reached out to take one of his hands in her free hand. "Of course, I'll go with you. You're the best date I could have asked for."

"Oh, okay," Markus said, and his voice sounded salty, but everyone knew he was just joking around. "I'll just pretend like that didn't just cut the biggest hole in my heart."

Kara giggled at him. "Oh, please, everyone knows that you're already taken."

Markus bit his lip and shrugged, and Connor could see a rare shyness creep into his eyes. Even after a year of dating Simon, Markus still got shy whenever anyone brought it up. He was just a closed off person and didn't like to flaunt his relationships, and whenever anyone brought it up, the boy only smiled and ducked his head.

Connor cleared his throat and waited until he had Kara's attention. "I know you were pretty upset about what happened with Evan, and you may not have shown it," he said, after she looked like she was about to protest. "But, we know you. And, we know how much you were waiting for the perfect prom invite—"

"Promposal," Kara interjected.

" _Whatever_ ," Connor said equally. "I just— _We_ just couldn't stand by and let your only chance for a prom invite fly away. You only have prom night once in your life, and now, hopefully, you'll have this memory to take with you for the rest of your life."

"Connor, stop, seriously," she said and she wiped a finger roughly under her eye. "I'm never gonna stop crying if you keep talking, and you know how much I hate crying."

"Okay, okay, I'm done now," he said. "So, what do we do now?"

Immediately, Kara's eyes brightened at the suggestion, and Connor knew he was in for a ride.

"Now … we coordinate!"

The next two weeks were filled with more prom planning than Connor had originally anticipated. Before he'd asked Kara, he'd only planned on going by himself. He wasn't worried about it, though, because the three of them had already planned to ride there together and with their dates. Markus had invited Simon to ride along and Kara had invited Evan, before he'd showed everyone just how simple minded he was. And, Connor was, like always, by himself.

The truth was, dating was just something he was never concerned about, but it always seemed to be the number one thing on his peers' minds: who was dating who, who had a crush on who, and who had just broken up with who. That whole dating scene never consumed Connor the least bit, and no one had ever even shown any interest in Connor, so why would he concern himself with that scene?

He didn't try to think about why that was that he wasn't interested in anyone or why he was almost 18 years old and had never even had his first kiss, but Markus and Kara sure spent a lot of time trying to get Connor interested.

It was a bit annoying to him when they insisted on finding him a boyfriend or girlfriend, to be honest, because he just didn't want that. He had no desire to walk down the halls while holding someone's hand, he had no desire to sneak a girl into his room for a hot make-out session, and he definitely didn't feel like spending all his free time planning date nights with a boyfriend.

In theory, the idea of having someone close like that to share cute little moments with sounded enticing, and sometimes, when he felt lonely and all he had to cheer him up was cuddling with Sumo, he wished he had that special someone that Kara and Markus talked about. Someone to be comfortable around, someone to talk to, someone who always chose Connor first.

But, the _how_ was stuck on him. He wished he could just skip past all the awkward beginnings of a relationship and just be thrust into a comfortable, stable long-term relationship with someone who knew everything about him and understood all of his little quirks.

That was unrealistic, and Connor felt that he didn't need it, anyway.

So, it's not like he had a date to the prom, either. And, while he hadn't fussed or even cared about receiving an invite or finding someone to invite, he was glad at the way things had turned out.

Where before Connor had been able to squeeze underneath Kara's prom radar, he was now painfully right in the center of it. He was dragged along to all her fittings now because she insisted that it was his obligation as her date now to accompany her and provide valuable input on her appearance. After all, he was the one who would be dancing with her all night.

These were all her words, not his. He was perfectly fine with whatever she wore because she would be beautiful either way, and while he was pretty much unhelpful in helping her decide on one dress, she had _plenty_ to say about his tux. First off, he had to scrap his old one. It had been a sea green color, like something out of a 50s vintage shop, and she said the color and style clashed with her version of a pale purple that she'd envisioned from any dress she was going to decide on.

So, they went looking for a new tux. She actually decided rather quickly what kind of tux would be appropriate to go with her dress, and after only a little bit of hunting, they'd both found a tux they could agree on. It was a pretty standard tux, like one he'd seen on every other fancy guy in the world, but this one had a violet colored undershirt that matched her dress, and so they were both content.

It took another couple of days, but she finally picked the winning dress from between her final three dress choices, and as prom loomed ever closer, Kara finally decided that everything was in place for the big night.

The night before prom, Kara, Markus, and Connor were just getting into the house after midnight. Simon had wanted to take the gang out for pre celebratories, and so Connor, Markus, Kara, and her best friend, Rose, were all invited to go cosmic bowling with him. Cosmic bowling was better than regular bowling because that's when they turned off the harsh fluorescent lights and flipped on the black lights, and the entire room, from the bowling pins to the alleys to the bowling balls themselves, glowed neon colors from the black light.

The siblings were all tired out from all the curly fries they'd shared, and the plan was to just head inside, say good night to Hank, and flop straight onto their beds, but Connor's plans changed the second he walked inside.

Markus opened the door and let them in, and Connor immediately noticed Hank sitting at the kitchen table. All the lights in the house were off except for the kitchen light, so it was easy to see how Hank suddenly made quick work of bustling some papers together and hiding them underneath one of his case files that was open. He didn't think his siblings noticed, but Connor did; Connor always noticed _everything._

"Hey, kids," Hank said, and Connor noted the forced nonchalance there. "You're home early. It's not even midnight."

Kara scoffed, too tired to joke around at this hour. "It's way past twelve. It's, like … I don't know, but I know it's almost two."

"It is?" He said, and glanced at the microwave clock. "Well, I'll be damned. It is almost two."

"Yeah, and we're so bowled out," Markus said. "I've got to get up early—we've all got to get up early—and I don't know why I let Simon talk me into staying for three more games, but if I have sleepy eyes all day tomorrow for prom, then Simon can only blame himself if our pictures turn out hideous."

"Oh my god," Kara whined, and she patted her cheeks right under eyes testingly. " _Pictures_. No. Nope. I'm going to sleep right this second. Good night, guys," she said, and pressed a kiss to Hank's cheek before she left them all for her precious bed.

Markus wasn't far behind her, and after he said his good nights to Connor and Hank, he followed Kara into the room.

Connor wasn't tired all of a sudden. He'd seen those papers that Hank had tried to hide, and now it was the only thing he could think about. What exactly could Hank be reading over where he had to hide it away from them?

His detective instincts were strong, but he didn't know if he had it in him to go full on sleuthing tonight, so he sat down at the table with Hank and tried a little less subtle approach.

"What were those papers about that you hid under that folder when we walked in?"

 _Direct_ was another word for it, he guessed.

Hank narrowed his eyes at Connor, not liking the fact that he wasn't as sneaky as he tried to be. Or, at least, never with Connor could he get away with it.

"I don't know what you're talk—"

"I'm talking about these," Connor said, reaching for a corner of one of the papers that was poking out from under the case file.

"Woah, woah, hey!" Hank said, snatching the file and the secretive papers out of Connor's reach. Connor only faced him with a knowing look, eyebrows raised and a half smirk on his lips.

Hank sighed, defeated once again by Junior Detective Connor. One of these days, Connor thought he might just go on to beat some of his old man's policing records.

"Okay, Connor, Mister Sly Detective," Hank said, teasing him. "I'll be honest. These are some pretty important papers. Something I've been thinking about a lot more lately with you guys leaving the nest and all that, and this is something that's been a long time coming. Now, I won't say another word about it, but if you can guess what these could be, then I'll give them to you."

Whatever Connor had been expecting him to say, it definitely wasn't that, and he cocked his head to the side as he thought. "You'll give them to me? Wait, so they're mine?"

"I didn't say that. You heard what I said, so just think on that for a couple days. Not all puzzles can be solved with a few cunning interrogation tactics. My lips are sealed, boy."

Hank closed his folder and straightened all his papers together before he stood up. As he walked by a still puzzled Connor, he placed a hand on his shoulder and shook it lightly. "Get some sleep. You'll find out when you need to." And, then he left him alone to his thoughts.

Connor didn't sleep well that night, and the only thing he could think about was how Kara was going to be so pissed at him for having dark circles under his eyes for prom pictures.

* * *

Today was the day.

Kara was the first to wake up, to no one's surprise, and she woke everyone else up in the house by jumping excitedly on their bed and shaking them awake. She needed their help getting ready, and if she hadn't woken them up, anyway, they probably would have just slept in until noon.

But, it was 7:30 in the morning on a Saturday, and these teenagers were about to get ready for their prom.

Most of the morning was spent with a ton of Hank's cop buddies coming in and out of the house, each one tasked with a different aspect in helping the teens prepare.

Hank's detective friend, Lilly, was in charge of helping Kara with her hair and makeup. It was probably the thing that took up the most time of the day, and the two girls had stayed in their room for most of the evening.

Another cop, Aiden, was tasked with helping to tame Connor's usually wild and messy hair. Markus didn't need any help with anything because he kept his hair closely shaved to his head, so he pretty much just walked around the house and ate snacks and talked on the phone with Simon until it was time to put his tux on.

Aiden smoothed Connor's hair down with gel, and it was still pretty puffy, but that's how Aiden wanted it to look. He said it added volume to his hair, and honestly, Connor could dig it.

It was starting to dawn on Connor just how many friends Hank actually had when a few more people showed up with cameras and flowers and, for Hank, classy bottles of wine.

For the most part, it was pretty chaotic with so many people in their small home, and there was a bunch of stepping on toes and having to suffer through bad, old timey humor and Connor having a bunch of tiny anxiety attacks from how close people had to work on him.

He'd gotten his own tux on, but some of Hank's friends had decided to step in and fix his collar or give some sort of dancing tip, and his personal favorite was when anyone who noticed that stray piece of hair that hung down in front of his forehead, they repeatedly tried to slick it back into place. That was a stubborn piece of hair of his that always gave him trouble whenever he slicked his hair into place, and he had come to terms with that stray piece. Apparently, no one else could.

It was almost dawn when everything had finally calmed down, and the adults in the house had slowly began to filter out one by one, saying their goodbyes and wishing everyone luck on the big night. Connor smiled and played the good son, and escorted everyone out person by person, letting them know just how appreciative he and his family were for their help today.

When everyone had gone except for one of Hank's friends who also doubled as their photographer for the night, Connor leaned with his back against the door and let a heaving sigh drag through him. The night hadn't even started yet and already he felt exhausted.

Kara was still in the bedroom with Hank putting the finishing touches on her look, and Connor felt a buzz go through him. He bet his big sister was going to be the most stunning girl on the dance floor.

When the doorbell rang at his back, Connor jumped and whirled around. Then, Markus came running out of the kitchen with white powder on the side of his mouth as he faced Connor anxiously.

"Do I look all right? I don't look horrible, do I?"

Connor thumbed his own lips amusedly, nodding his head at Markus. "You somehow never manage to look horrible. Even with a donut stain on your mouth, you still look decently attractive."

Markus' eyes widened, and he hastily rubbed at his mouth until the stain was gone, and Markus was once again pristine. "Now?"

"Very good."

Markus flashed him a quick smile that quickly dissolved back into a thin, nervous line before he turned to open the door.

Simon was standing there all suited up in his own tux, a small clear box clad in his hand. His head shot up, and as soon as his eyes landed on Markus, he smiled a nervous smile, not unlike what Markus was just wearing less than ten seconds ago. He gazed at Markus from head to toe and shook his head in amazement.

"Wow," he breathed, and Markus ushered him inside. "You look even better than I imagined."

Markus smiled a secret smile, and his eyes twinkled mischievously, and Connor suddenly felt awkward watching the exchange. "You imagined this?" Markus said, and he bit his bottom lip as he gazed at Simon, and Connor immediately found that he was hungry. Yeah, he was hungry, and he needed to go into the kitchen. He just needed to get out of that space right that second before he could be seared with an image that would no doubt ever leave his mind.

So, before he could witness anymore of whatever the hell sexual glances they were giving each other, he pivoted on his heel and hurried his way to the kitchen.

The memory of last night took hold of him again as he leaned against the table thoughtfully. Connor tried to pick out single lines of dialogue from last night, trying to wheedle out what was important to the mystery of what was on those papers.

 _"Something I've been thinking about a lot more lately … Something that's been a long time coming … I'll give them to you."_

It almost felt like Connor already knew what it was. He knew the answer was in him, but he just couldn't quite see the bigger picture here.

What more could Hank give to him? His foster dad had already given him everything. He gave him a roof over his head when no one wanted him, because everyone always wanted to adopt small children they could mold into the person they wanted to raise, not a ten year old who'd already grown into his own personality.

Hank gave him unconditional love that Connor had no trouble feeling because the man showed it in every action he did for him, whether it was saving him from a crazy guy in a shed, or always being there with words of advice when Connor was in need.

Hank had given him an older brother and an older sister, and honestly, nothing filled Connor with so much emotion, so much _validity_ than that fact. His family defined him now. He was no one without them. He would have been no one without them had Hank never brought him home.

Hank damn near gave Connor his entire world, and except for the man's last name, there was nothing he wouldn't voluntarily give him, and the only reason that hadn't happened was because—

 _Oh my god_ , Connor thought suddenly, his entire being flushing with something too heavy, too grand to understand.

He knew exactly what was on those papers.

No. No, but he couldn't think about it. Not right _then._ Not when he was about to have the best night of his life. Not when Kara was going to step out of their bedroom any second with a radiant smile on her face.

He couldn't think about it right then, or else the ten-year-old within him would curl up into the fetal position and cry right there on the floor.

But, one thing Connor knew for sure was that this was going to be a night that he would never forget in a million years.

Connor had about two seconds to collect himself before his bedroom door creaked open, and he hurriedly straightened up to make himself presentable for his date.

All bets were off the minute Kara came gracefully walking out through the hallway: she was the most beautiful girl Connor had ever seen, and she was definitely going to be the girl that everyone else wanted to dance with when they reached the dance.

Markus and Simon had finally found their way into the kitchen, and when they both laid eyes on Kara, their jaws dropped in awe.

Her brunette hair was done up in two braids along the side of her head and they swirled together in an elegant bun at the back of her head. Two slight, wavy tendrils of hair framed her face, and Connor had to admit that she definitely rocked stray hairs better than he every could. Her light purple colored dress had no straps, it only came to above her chest before it stopped. It was pretty form fitting and clung close to her chest and waist, but once it hit her hips, it began to flare ever so slightly, giving her the room she'd need to move her legs comfortably as she danced the night away.

She was never a girl really into make up, and the most she ever wore was some eyeliner around her eyes when she wanted them to really pop, but tonight was supposed to be a night for firsts, and she seemed to keep that motto in mind when she did her make up.

It was still nothing drastically different than what she was usually comfortable with, but it was more than she was used to. Her eyelashes were darker and seemed to be longer than usual, and the eyeliner under her eye was more subtle, barely noticeable, but enough to make her eyes pop. Her cheeks had a red tint to it, but Connor thought that was the makeup. The closer he got to her, the more he could see that the way her eyes shined from so far was because she had a light coating of glitter on her eyelids.

It was a little strange to see her face so dolled up when he wasn't used to it, but she looked extremely happy, and Connor warmed up to the look immediately.

He walked up to her and couldn't keep the smile off his face. "Do you have any idea how _envious_ all the girls are going to be? And, I think more than a few guys are going to want to push me aside for a dance with you," Connor said, and if it was even possible, Kara shined even brighter at the praise.

"Thank you," she said softly. Then, she grabbed Connor's arms and spread them out and away from his body as she inspected him. "And, you! You look even more handsome than when we did the fittings. I think you might actually catch someone's eye tonight."

Connor dropped his arms to his side and rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay, let's not start that. Let's just— Wait, where's the—"

"It's right here, Rico Suave," Hank said, and in his outstretched hand was the corsage Connor had picked out for Kara.

"Thanks," he mumbled, and scooped the little box out of Hank's hands. He slid the corsage from the box and placed the box on the table before reaching for Kara's already waiting hand. He carefully slid the dark purple carnation onto her wrist, and his heart spiked at the sight. She looked so pleased with his choice, and he was glad he got the Kara seal-of-approval.

"And, I have this," she said, and that's when he noticed that her other hand held his boutonnière. He held still while she pinned the pale purple flower to his chest pocket, and when she finished, she sighed in awe at the sight.

"You kids look a wonderful sight. Hell, this is starting off a lot better than the way my prom had gone," Hank said, and all four of the teens in the room slowly turned to face him. "You wouldn't believe it. My date, Jenny Cross, she—"

"That's a wonderful story, Hank, but we've heard it a thousand times," Markus said, and he clapped his hands together with glee. "I think it's time for some pictures."

The three other teens breathed their collective sighs of relief at the suggestion, and they all headed outside to where Hank's photographer friend was waiting.

The photographer choreographed them to stand in front of the steps on the front porch: Connor and Kara on one side, and Markus and Simon on the other. Kara stood in front of Connor while he had his arms wrapped around her waist, and she rested her hands over top of his. Markus and Simon held each other around the waist with their sides pressed together.

They took a few photos in their standard positions before they got silly. The next few poses were totally impromptu, and Connor was pretty sure at least one of them was NSFW, but they didn't care. This was their night, and they were going to _live._

It was beginning to get dark, and so the four of them hopped into their "limo" which actually was not a limo, but an elongated Range Rover with three row seats. It was the best Hank could do since he had to pay for everything else by himself, but everyone could care less about what kind of car they rode up to the prom in.

When they got to the school, Markus and Simon hopped out first and basically left Kara and Connor behind. Hank barely had time to tell them to have a good time before all that was left of the pair was their dust flying in the wind.

Kara hopped out next, but before Connor left the car, he paused in the second row seat, and turned to Hank for a moment.

His nerves were still shaky from his revelation earlier, and he couldn't stay for more than a second before he'd lose it, but he allowed himself a few moments of shaky breaths.

Hank was beginning to worry a bit. "It's just a dance, son, it's not like—"

"I love you, Hank," Connor said, interrupting him. Hank immediately locked eyes with him, and any joke he'd been about to make stopped right in Hank's throat as he realized what Connor was talking about.

Hank sighed, knowing Connor had figured the mystery out earlier than he'd anticipated, but he didn't sound upset. "Goddamn, boy. I don't know why I underestimate you every time."

Connor smiled softly at him. "How many times do I have to tell you that I learned from the best?"

Hank huffed a laugh and nodded. "Yeah," he said softly. Then, he gulped and faced Connor. "Do me a favor, and don't tell them. I wanna do that. I think I deserve that, and … tell them the plan for the night's changed. When I pick you guys up when this is all done, I'm gonna take Simon back to his house and bring all three of you back home. I know I told them they could spend the night with their friends, but I'm gonna need everyone home tonight."

Connor nodded understandingly, and the sound of Kara's excited voice cut through the emotion in the car. "Hurry up, Connor, I wanna go dance!"

Hank smiled at him and turned back around to face the front. "You heard the girl. She's waiting for her dance." Connor's heart clenched, and for the first time, he felt truly at peace.

He stepped out of the car, and right before he slammed the door shut, Hank's humored voice wafted through the car. "And, don't step on her toes! I didn't spend hundred of dollars in dance lessons for you to scar up her poor feet."

Connor let a giggle escape as he let the car door fall shut, and he turned to face his date. She raised a playful eyebrow at him and held out her prettily manicured hand for him. "You ready?"

He was born ready.

The dance was being held in the gymnasium, and Kara wasted no time in speed-walking Connor through the desolate halls and into the overpacked gym. It was super crowded by the time they got there, but they already had a table waiting for them thanks to Rose. She was one of the first to arrive, and she'd saved the table specifically with Kara and her family in mind.

They didn't even have time to settle into their seats before Kara was whisking Connor onto the dance floor and living her best life right there to the EDM that was currently playing. She was a tiny thing, but she was so full of energy as she whipped herself from side to side, and Connor sometimes had trouble keeping up with her.

Markus and Simon were somewhere around here, and he'd caught sight of them on the far end of the dance floor where Markus was suspiciously close to the punch bowl. Simon looked a bit worried as he glanced from Markus to the punch bowl and then around at the crowd. Connor didn't want to say that he thought Markus was going to be that idiot to spike the punch bowl with alcohol, but he would be lying if he didn't say he thought that.

When the song switched to something calmer, Connor was elated. He was still running off of two hours of sleep, and all this exhaustive dancing was starting to get to him. So, when the beat changed to something soft, he immediately grabbed Kara up into his hands and used her strength to build his back.

He was suddenly grateful for those dance lessons Hank had mentioned earlier. Hank had made all of them take those classes when they were 15 to prepare them for moments like these. And, also because he said that old fashioned dancing was going out of style, and he didn't want them falling prey to society's new brand of dance, which Hank thoroughly did not approve of.

With that knowledge, he was able to lead Kara around their little area elegantly, twirling her under his arm at one point and following up with a low dip of her back, which she giggled at as he brought her back up.

The night wore on, and some of Connor's enthusiasm came back to him as he let himself enjoy the night. There were always so many things racing through his mind, but if he could just compartmentalize those things in a separate box of his mind just for the night, then he could relax.

He was now so relaxed, in fact, that when he was sitting at the table sipping his punch—which Markus definitely spiked, Connor could taste—the sudden tap on his shoulder didn't even register for a minute. He was just watching Kara dance with someone who had come up to her randomly and asked if she wanted to dance when someone in a flashy tuxedo was blocking his way.

Connor tore his gaze away from the bright red bow tie on the kid's neck to see Gavin facing him with raised eyebrows.

"Hello? Are you deaf? I've been calling your name for, like, five minutes here."

 _He had?_ Connor hadn't heard a thing past a slight buzzing sound in his ear, but he was fairly sure that was from the alcohol.

Gavin didn't wait for a response before he shook his head exasperatedly and slipped his hands into his pants pockets. He looked a bit nervous, and he kept tapping his foot against the linoleum floor, but Connor stayed still, unsure what the boy even wanted.

"Well, come on," he said, as if Connor should have known what he was talking about. Then, he turned on his heel and headed for the weaning crowd on the dance floor.

Connor felt the usual annoyance at Gavin's lack of proper social skills as he stared after the boy, but he couldn't deny the tingle that ran through his spine at the suggestion, lighting his nerves up.

After wiping his suddenly sweaty palms on his pants, he followed Gavin to where he stood alone in the sparsely populated dance floor, nervously straightening his bow tie. Gavin stopped his fidgeting when Connor found him, and for once in Connor's life, he couldn't figure out this mystery.

His childhood bully was standing before him, stray pieces of dark hair falling into his eyes, not unlike Connor's own hair; there was no malice in his eyes, no joke on his lips, no hostility in his demeanor. He was just a boy who was nervous, and Connor couldn't figure out when that changed.

Or, maybe he already knew. Maybe he was scared to be right this time.

That would be a first.

Gavin took a deep breath and let it all out in a harsh sounding sigh. Connor adjusted his bow tie, and tried to smooth down that stubborn piece of hair hanging past his forehead.

It fell again, but before he could just sigh and call it a loss, Gavin shot his hand out and tried his turn at slicking the piece back. It was a gentle motion, but Connor couldn't hide the way he flinched as Gavin smoothed it down.

The other boy noticed, though, and he slowly brought his hand back to himself and cradled it to his chest as that damned piece of hair fell back over his forehead.

He could already see the apprehension forming in Gavin's eyes as he noticed the flinch, and he knew some crude joke was sure to follow because that's just what Gavin did when he felt even the least bit of guilt, but Connor didn't think his sensitive heart could take it. Not tonight.

So, he spoke first in hopes of keeping the conversation light. "I've been told that my hair is a lost cause. I can't keep that hair into place even if I superglued it, I think." Connor laughed twice before he couldn't fake it anymore.

Gavin narrowed his eyes at him confusedly, as if he didn't know why Connor was talking about his hair right now. Then, that familiar gleam came into his eyes, and Connor's heart sunk just a little bit.

"That's because that wavy piece of hair is about as straight as you are," he said sardonically. "You can't conform what doesn't want to be, kid."

He didn't know why he expected anything else than classic Gavin Reed.

Connor wasn't going to make a scene. He wasn't one to make a big deal out of life's injustices that were thrust upon him, and Connor had repeatedly tried his hardest to give Gavin the benefit of the doubt every time, but he thought he was done now. He didn't deserve this.

So, he gave Gavin a small, sad smile, and said, "Okay, Gavin," and nodded, at peace with his decision.

He turned on his heel and walked away back into the crowd, his heart a little sadder, his mind a little lighter. He skimmed over top of the heads in his way for Kara or Markus, hoping to steal them away from whoever they were dancing with, but someone yanked on his elbow, and he whirled around to face Gavin once more.

Connor sighed, and easily pulled his arm back out of Gavin's grip. "I'm not in the mood for your classless jokes tonight, Gavin, so can you please just—"

"No, Connor, listen," Gavin said, and Connor had never seen a look of true remorse on the other boy's face since that day Gavin had disrespected Hank during their job shadowing. Even then, the remorse wasn't as strong as Connor saw it now, and the look silenced him into at least hearing Gavin out. "I'm … I'm sorry, okay? Are you happy now? I'm sorry for being a jerk to you all these years. But, the straight thing was just a joke, and … but, I realize my jokes aren't for everyone. And, I just … I don't know. I guess I just don't want you to leave high school hating me still."

Gavin looked absolutely wrecked as he confessed all of this to Connor, and it was such a startling look on his old nemesis. Connor frowned as he watched Gavin struggle with a simple apology, because he didn't think it was all that simple to the other boy.

It must have really been weighing on Gavin's mind, all of his mistreatment toward Connor all these years, if it was enough for Gavin to gather strength to admit his wrong, but Connor still couldn't figure out why that was. Why did the other boy care so much about what Connor thought about him?

Still, he wasn't one to relish in other people's misery, no matter how much he used to wish this upon Gavin, and he couldn't let Gavin suffer.

"I've never hated you," Connor said, and when Gavin raised a skeptical eyebrow at him, Connor changed his answer. "Okay, fine, so I did hate you at one point. But, we were ten, and I hated a lot of things back then. I hated the way Mr. Simpson wore his moustache, I hated that the elementary school we went to didn't serve Friday pizza for lunch, and … I hated the way you treated me."

Connor's voice was strong, but he was hesitant to bring it up. He wanted to finally put this Gavin mess behind him once and for all, and what better time to do it than now, when Gavin was already being as real as ever with Connor?

Gavin's eyes narrowed and his cheeks heated up, but that was all. Connor continued, finally bringing up everything he'd ever wanted to ask him. "Why were you so mean to me? What did I do to you?" Connor said, and Gavin immediately looked away from him in guilt. But, Connor wasn't done. "If we're going to move on from this, then I need something from you, Gavin. You say you don't want us to leave school with me hating you, but I never hated you, not really. It was always _you_ who didn't like me, and I'll never understand why unless you tell me."

This was the most Connor had ever said to Gavin, and it surprised him that he was able to stand up for himself now and not be discouraged by Gavin's silence. Gavin may not want to talk about whatever issues he was going through, but Connor needed this. He needed an answer from the boy, and he wasn't going to be happy until he got one.

Gavin continued to stare at the ever lessening crowd as Connor waited. He didn't think the boy noticed, but his foot had begun tapping anxiously, just as he had been earlier when he asked in absolutely zero words for Connor to follow him out onto the dance floor.

When Gavin finally gazed back at Connor, the resolve in the boy's eyes did something weird to Connor's belly. It made his heart go into his throat, and he couldn't figure out how to breathe all of a sudden.

"You really wanna know why I targeted you?"

No. No, Connor suddenly didn't want to know why.

He honestly could say he had never been more shocked in his entire life than in the next few seconds.

Gavin's tongue shot out to lick his lips, and unbiddingly, Connor's eyes followed the motion, and his own mouth opened in response. Gavin must have taken this as some sort of unspoken consent because before he could realize what was happening, Gavin's hands were cupped beneath Connor's jaw and their lips were roughly pressed together.

It felt like all the wiring in his brain had short-circuited and was about to explode as Connor let himself be kissed by Gavin. Gavin, the same kid who used to trip him up in the hallways and ripped up his jeans. Gavin, the same boy who wrote "Connor is dumb xD" on the bathroom walls in middle school. Gavin, the guy who just five minutes ago had likened Connor's sexual orientation to that of a stray piece of hair.

But, that wasn't who Gavin was, not really. He'd seen glimpses of what the real Gavin was like in quiet moments. Like the time he'd apologized to Hank after he'd disrespected him. Maybe it had to do with what Connor had said to him earlier in the day, but that apology had been totally unassisted, and he'd done that on his own.

While Gavin had physically laid hands on Connor when they were kids, he'd stopped that once Markus had taken him down, and while some verbal harassment had followed in the coming years, that, too, had stopped about halfway through middle school. For the most part through high school, Gavin only shot Connor meaningful looks that he'd never been able to understand, and really, not more than few words were ever said between them in that time.

Not until tonight, that was.

Gavin's lips were soft, and he tasted a bit like cigarettes mixed with punch. Connor still had his eyes open as Gavin finally pulled away, and the other boy's hands slid down to fist into the lapel of Connor's suit. "You wanted to know why?" he said, and his face was flushed as he gazed humorously up at Connor. "It's just because you're so damn … cute," Gavin said, reinforcing the word with a soft thump to Connor's chest before he burst into low chuckles.

Gavin leaned his forehead against Connor's chest as his chuckles overtook him, and Connor was completely done with the night. Out of all the possible things he could have imagined were the reason behind Gavin's random bullying on him, Connor being _cute_ was definitely not one of them.

"I'm sorry," Connor started, and Gavin finally released him and took a step back. He appreciated the motion because now he felt like he could breath a little. "But, I am totally confused right now."

Gavin laughed again, and Connor could see the genuine happiness in the teenager. There wasn't anything ironic or cruel to the laugh, just pure joy, and Connor couldn't help but respond in kind. He'd started chuckling right along with Gavin as he let the relief of a feeling wash over him, the two boys probably looking completely odd to anyone else.

Gavin reigned in his laughs, but the smile stayed. It was so weird to see him _happy_ , and Connor realized that he preferred to see that look on his face more so than the look of disdain it usually held. "Oh, Connor," he started, and Connor cocked his head at the words. "You're so innocent. Don't ever lose that."

Connor squinted curiously at Gavin as he thought. _"Oh, Conno_ _r"_ was such a simple phrase. It was something he heard all the time from Hank, from Markus, from Kara, and it was always said with that same tone of fondness that he associated with his family. He'd never heard the words come out of anyone else's mouth, and he didn't think he ever would.

But, Gavin just said it, and it was so amazing, so _exquisite_ , because he managed to capture that same tone of fondness into his voice, and it just about blew Connor's heart away.

"Sorry if I blew your little virgin mind," Gavin said, and he straightened his bow tie once more. "But, I've just been fucking dying to do that ever since I first caught sight of those big, doe eyes of yours."

Connor flushed, and he couldn't believe this was actually happening still. "If you felt this way, then why didn't you ever tell me? Why did you have to push me around?"

Gavin huffed, and bit his lip to try and stifle just how funny he found his question. "Because, I'm an asshole who never learned how to express his feelings."

At least Gavin was self-aware.

"I don't even think I knew it back then," Gavin continued, "and, I wanted you to pay attention to me, but I didn't know how to do that nicely, so like the bitch I am I just … pushed you around." Gavin huffed a laugh, but he looked truly apologetic as he turned his eyes on Connor. "Just so you know, I kicked myself every day for the way I treated you. It's one of my biggest regrets, and if I had the chance to do it all over… Well, I'd probably do it all the same again," he said and laughed once. "As much as I wish I could say differently, I just don't know how to be nice. It makes me feel icky."

Now, it was Connor's turn to laugh. "I think that's something you can still learn," Connor said, and he meant it. If this conversation said anything, it was that Gavin Reed was a secret lover and not actually a fighter like how he always projected to everyone.

Gavin narrowed his eyes skeptically. "Maybe. But, don't you go around telling people about this. I have a reputation to uphold, and no one's gonna fear me if they know I have the hots for the class outcast."

Connor furrowed his eyebrows. "I'm the class outcast?"

"You are, but it's cool. You don't want to be like everyone around here anyway. They're all a bunch of fuckheads who don't how to bully correctly."

Connor chuckled and folded his arms across his chest. "Now there's a correct way to bully? You've gotta tell me all about this because this is all news to me."

For the next twenty minutes, Gavin and Connor sat at Connor's table while Gavin explained the etiquette of bullying. Apparently, bullying other bullies, kids that you liked, or people who understood your kind of humor was acceptable, and bullying kids just to be mean or to make fun of things about themselves that they couldn't change was unacceptable. Connor didn't see a difference, and he still thought any kind of bullying was wrong, but he listened avidly to Gavin as he explained his opinion on the matter.

He'd been so wrapped up in his conversation with Gavin, his first real one with the boy, that it took a few calls of his name before he noticed Kara standing beside him, a huge smile on her face.

"I don't mean to interrupt," she said, glancing between Connor and Gavin with knowing eyes, "but, can I steal my date back for a while? They're about to announce prom king and queen!"

Gavin cleared his throat and abruptly stood to his feet as he adjusted his bow tie yet again. "The kid's all yours," he said, feigning nonchalance, but right before he turned away, he clicked his teeth together and shot Connor a wink before disappearing into the crowd.

Connor found himself smiling stupidly at the spot where Gavin just stood, and Kara had to snap her fingers in his face to get his attention again.

"Con! What the hell, oh my god, what was that?" she said excitedly, settling herself into the seat Gavin previously occupied.

Connor was still mind blown, and he half thought that the past half an hour was just a crazy dream, but the feelings in his chest were very real, and he didn't know where to start.

"I have no idea what just happened," Connor said. "But, I think I finally know what you and Markus have been talking about for the past three years."

Kara's eyes were wide, and she squealed with delight at his confession, but before she could interrogate him further on the Gavin situation, the music cut off and one of the teachers took over the mic. Kara grabbed Connor's hand and ran them all the way to the front of the crowd so they had front row privilege in witnessing the senior class prom king and queen.

In their senior class, there were a few viable guesses as to who these titled honors could go to. For the king, there was the president of the student council club. His name was Stephen, and he was an all around great guy who was smart, was friends with people from all different types of cliques, and wasn't a bad looking guy, either.

There was Jermaine, who was a linebacker on the football team. He was well-liked by the core cliques in the school, and while he wasn't the smartest kid in class, he made up for that by being the coolest, most charming guy in their grade.

There was even Gavin, and the only reason he was a viable option was because the boy was insanely popular. Everyone knew he could be a jerk to people, but they didn't seem to care; people still rallied behind him and thought he was the funniest guy who walked the halls.

For queen, there were so many girls who could win that spot. Girls who were smart and kind, well-liked and deeply involved in clubs, but only one candidate really mattered.

Kara was now the president of the eco-club, and she didn't get there by being a loner. She was a social butterfly who was kind to even the meanest of kids in school, and people noticed this. She was smart, and had a few friends in all the different cliques in school, and Connor thought she was a shoe in for queen.

And, he was right.

The teacher announced Kara's name for prom queen, and if he thought Kara couldn't get anymore excited about this night, then he was kidding himself. The girl jumped and squealed and wrapped her arms so tightly around Connor's neck he for sure thought he felt some tendons pop. Then, she was gone and grabbing her dress up in her hands as she walked up the stage and let herself be crowned with a tiara and a bouquet of flowers.

The twists of the night weren't done with Connor yet because prom king turned out to be Gavin, and really, why did he think it was going to turn out any other way?

Gavin and Kara stood side by side on the stage as the audience cheered and whistled and clapped, and Connor couldn't stop staring at Kara. She had a hand over her mouth, but he could see her beaming smile under it, hidden away from total view. Connor suddenly wished Hank could have been there to see her looking so beautiful because he knew the man would have been a proud dad.

But, there were going to be pictures, and Connor couldn't wait to show them to him.

Gavin, on the other hand, looked as if he knew he was going to win, as if no one else could compare, and Connor laughed to himself at the smirk on his face as he waved to the crowd.

Then, it was time for the ritualistic dance. Everyone cleared way for Kara and Gavin to make their way to the center of the floor, and when they reached it, Kara easily wrapped her arms around his neck as Gavin settled his hands on her waist, and the two of them began to sway to the slow song that had started to play.

Connor couldn't seem to help the way his heart soared at seeing the two of them dancing together, and it was funny because never in a million years did he think he'd ever witness this. But there they stood, talking and whispering and—

Oh. Oh, no. And, yep, that is definitely a little fear on Gavin's face. Kara was speaking to him with a stern look on her face, and Connor's own face started to heat up in embarrassment. He could only imagine what she was saying to him, but it was probably along the lines of _If you ever hurt my_ _little_ _brother again, I'm gonna string you up by the_ _ba_ _—_

"Dude, can you believe it?" Markus said as he slung his arm around Connor's shoulder. The boy came out of nowhere, and it was the first time he'd seen him tonight. Connor quickly took note of the glassy look in his mismatched colored eyes, and the way his breath absolutely stunk of alcoholic punch. "Our girl! _Fucking_ homecoming princess. I mean, queen. Prom queen, not homecoming." Markus burped, and Connor groaned in disgust before pushing his brother away from him. "God, I love her. And, she deserves this, you know? Especially after what that asshole Evan did, goddamn it. But, I got him back. I did, didn't I, Simon?"

Simon came up behind Markus with an annoyed glance on his features, and Connor could only imagine what the poor boy had to endure before coming up to Connor. "Markus personally spiked Evan's cup with some laxatives, and I have not seen that kid in like an hour."

Markus laughed so hard at that he had to squeeze his eyes shut. Connor sighed, and he didn't show it because Simon was already pretty anxious about the whole thing, but he one hundred percent approved of Markus in that moment.

"I think it's best if we call it a night," Simon said, and Markus fell into him at that moment, needing to keep a grip on Simon so he didn't fall flat on his face. "Markus had too much fun, and I just want to get out of here now before he causes enough trouble to get us kicked out."

"I think you're right," Connor said. There was still that business Hank had at home with the secret papers, and Connor was suddenly dying to get home. "I'll go get Kara, and can you call Hank? I'll meet you outside."

"Okay," Simon said eagerly, and Connor knew he was just itching to get out of here and away from watchful eyes. He waited until he saw Simon safely escort Markus out of the gym before he went to look for Kara.

Everyone else in the room had joined the prom king and queen on the dance floor, and so Connor had to squeeze through sweaty bodies and couples kissing pretty heavily to get to his sister, and when he finally found them, he caught the end of their conversation.

"—not to say you're a bad guy, but he's my brother. I'm sure you can under—"

"Hey," Connor said with forced enthusiasm, jumping onto the scene and throwing his hands onto her shoulders. He just wanted to get her to stop talking before she could embarrass him any more than he's sure she's already done.

Kara stopped her dance and faced Connor, and he saw how quickly she tried to throw up some false enthusiasm. "Oh, hey, I was just playing nice with—"

"Connor, save me from this chick right now before I lose my fucking shit," Gavin said, and he let go of Kara and fumbled backwards away from her.

Kara huffed highly, indignantly. "Excuse me, but I didn't say anything wrong."

"I know you didn't," Connor said and tried to steer her away before they could come to heads right in front of him. "Markus is smashed, and Simon wants to take him home. So, are you cool if we leave now? Did you do everything you wanted to do tonight?"

She turned under his hands and clasped her hands together under her neck. "Oh, Connor, tonight was unbelievable. I can't wait to head home and tell Hank all about it!"

Connor's heart warmed, and he was glad prom night was finally at an end. He'd done everything he could over the past few months to make this day as special as he could for her, and this was why: for that look right there on her face. It was the happiest he'd ever seen her, and it was the best possible way he could think to end their senior year.

"Markus and Simon are waiting outside. I'll be there in a sec," he said.

Kara eyed Gavin for a second, and he thought she might protest, but when she gazed back at Connor, whatever was showing on his face was enough to have her agree. "Okay," she said softly. "I'm sure Simon needs help with Markus. He's such a baby when he's drunk, I swear." Then, she turned on her heel and squeezed her way through the crowd until she was out of sight.

Connor took a deep breath before turning back around to glance at Gavin. The other boy looked flustered, though he tried to conceal it with his usual look of disdain. "Fuck, Kara is—"

"Still my sister," Connor said, interrupting him before he had the chance to ruin the atmosphere of the night. "And, I'm sure whatever she said was well-deserved."

Gavin scoffed. "Yeah, maybe." Gavin dropped his hands from his neck and folded his arms across his chest as he stared intently at Connor. "So, you gotta go, now? You're not heading out to any after parties, or sneaking into some guy's house to bone tonight?"

Connor's eyes widened slightly. "No," he said and couldn't stop the way his voice went up a few octaves. "I mean, Hank has a surprise for us waiting at the house, so…"

"Ah, I see. How fucking lovely. Finishing the perfect night off with daddy," Gavin said, and while his words were on the mean spectrum, his voice didn't hold any of its usual bout of sarcasm. If anything, the words were more a reflex to Gavin, and it finally dawned on Connor what Gavin meant when he said he didn't know how to be nice.

Connor didn't know what to say in the way of parting. He didn't know the proper etiquette for saying goodbye to someone he didn't like for the longest time, but who actually had the biggest crush on him. If it were up to Connor, he probably would have just kissed him again, right there in the middle of the crowd. But, Gavin was a tricky guy to figure out, and somehow, Connor thought that the events of this night were reserved for this night only.

So, he took the initiative here and took the best course of action for himself, and probably for Gavin in the long run. It was gonna hurt right now, but if they were both open to it, then this separation wouldn't last forever.

"You know, tonight was the best night of my life," Connor said, and Gavin listened intently. "This whole day has been filled with one surprise after the next, and what happened between us back on the dance floor is something I'll keep with me for a long time."

Gavin narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Connor's somber tone, and while he hated that Gavin was going to get extremely defensive, he sincerely felt like it was the right move. "But, I'm gonna go now, and when we go back to school on Monday, I'm sure things will go back to their usual state of affairs. And, that's okay. Because, we still have a long way to go, and this isn't the end, despite what everyone says about graduating high school."

It hurt him right in the chest at the sour look on Gavin's face, but not as much as it might have if he let himself be captured by the Gavin he saw tonight.

"Are you fucking serious? I… But, you—"

"I don't hate you," Connor said, because he thought maybe Gavin thought that about him, but he couldn't be more wrong. "I just hope you can understand why it has to be this way right now."

Connor didn't want to explain himself further because then he'd have to be honest and tell him that he thought Gavin still had some growing up to do. As much as he wished they could maybe start something tonight, in reality, the two of them weren't even friends. Gavin had spent a good chunk of his childhood bullying him, and Connor still had a bit of a negative connotation that went with the name Gavin, and he needed time to separate the two now.

He knew Gavin probably wouldn't get it since Connor couldn't explain himself without being crass, so when Gavin snorted and glanced Connor's way with hurt and angry eyes, he understood completely.

"Whatever," Gavin said, and as he slid by Connor to walk away, he bumped into his shoulder purposefully. Connor only stared after his retreating back with a bittersweet smile, but as Gavin disappeared into the crowd, Connor knew this wouldn't be the end of their story. There was still so much there, and they had their whole lives to figure out what that was.

When Connor finally made it outside, Hank was already there and beeping the horn once he saw him. Connor rushed to the car and hopped in the backseat where he found everyone else. Markus and Simon were all the way in the back, his brother's head in Simon's lap as Simon played around with Markus' bow tie.

"Is he asleep?" Connor asked as Hank drove them out of the parking lot.

Kara giggled as she turned around in her seat to witness the two boys in the back. "I told him not to drink too much punch."

"Yeah, what idiot decided it was okay to tap alcohol into the punch? I didn't even know kids still did that," Hank said.

Kara and Connor exchanged a knowing glance, and they both turned away to hide their grins.

The whole way to Simon's house was filled with Kara explaining in very vivid detail just about everything that happened at the dance. There was so much to discuss, and she only scratched the surface during the car ride. Connor was silent for most of the way, a happy buzz flowing through him and making his mind feel clear and peaceful. This night probably couldn't have turned out any better. He still felt a little bad about Gavin, but he tried not to think about it too much. There was so much time for Gavin, but tonight was about his family.

And, there was still Hank's news. The thought of the papers once again had Connor suddenly alert, and they couldn't get home fast enough.

After they dropped off Simon, they were back at their own house in no time, and Connor was the first to hop out.

"Woah, where do you think you're going, slick?" Hank said, and Connor stopped his trek to the house. "Someone's gotta help me carry the 150 pound drunk in the back, and I'm not as young as I used to be."

Together, Connor and Hank each wrapped one of Markus's arms around their shoulder, and, _wow_ , Markus was really just full of muscle these days. Connor was huffing and puffing as Kara opened the door for them, and they just dropped Markus onto the couch, both too tired to even think about walking him into their bedroom.

Connor was all jittered nerves as he followed Hank into the kitchen, he couldn't even think to sit down. He knew what Hank was going to show them, and even though he'd had the entire night to prepare for this, he still felt like he had earlier when he'd wanted to curl up and cry on the floor. There was still a fifty percent chance of that happening.

"Kara, hun, get in here," Hank said as he reached for the folders on top of the fridge.

When Kara walked in, Connor couldn't contain himself, and he grabbed her hand up in his and held it to his chest for strength. She was always able to calm him, and he needed her right now.

Understandably, Kara was taken aback at the display, but she only squeezed his hand tighter. "Woah, what's gotten into you?"

Connor could only gulp as he watched Hank stand before them, folders folded to his chest between his arms. Kara followed his gaze and stared between the two men questioningly.

"I'm missing something, aren't I?"

Hank smiled at her, and took a deep breath before he spoke. "I have something for you. For the both of you. For all three of you, actually, but Markus decided to act like a fool, and now he's piss drunk on the couch. And, I really wanted to do this with all three of you, but Connor, the little weasel, managed to figure out what it was early like a true detective."

Hank was trying to hide it with humor, but Connor, and even Kara, could hear how his voice was getting rougher and how his eyes were getting a bit shinier.

Kara began worrying her nails with her teeth as she grew more and more anxious. "Hank, you're making me nervous."

Their foster dad chuckled once before he cleared his throat and handed the two of them two separate folders. "Here, just read it."

Connor let go of Kara to clasp the folder between both of his hands, and he'd never been more nervous in his life. It was just a piece of paper, and it wasn't actually going to change much, but the meaning behind it was going to stay with them forever.

As Connor flipped his folder opened and read the byline, he took a shuddering breath. There was a bunch of legal garb on the official documents, but Connor's eyes sought out the part he'd been looking for.

 _In the matter of the petition_ _of_ Hank Anderson _to adopt_ Connor Sims _, it is hereby decreed that_ _said child shall be deemed_ _the child of the petitioner in all respects as if the child were born to them biologically._

Hank had actually done it. After so many years of only being Hank's foster kid, he was suddenly, _legally,_ so much more to him and would be for the rest of his life.

"You adopted us? Like, _really_ adopted us?" Kara said from beside him, and he could hear the tears in her voice.

Hank chuckled roughly, and Connor glanced up at him to see him wipe some tears away from his eyes. "That's not all I did. Look at the bottom."

Connor glanced down at his paper and chuckled wetly into the air as he read the piece he'd previously overlooked.

 _It is further adjudged that the name of said child_ _be_ _hereby legally changed to_ Connor Anderson.

And, now Hank had truly done it all. He'd given them the one thing he never could have before. His _fucking_ last name.

Connor's given last name wasn't something he was attached to at all. If anything, it was a reminder of a family he never knew, a reminder that even from birth he wasn't wanted, but he had made peace with that fact a long time ago.

Who knew the circumstances of his birth? Maybe his mother wanted to give him his best chance. Maybe his father wasn't ready for the responsibility of taking care of a child and wasn't going to make Connor suffer because of that. He just didn't know, and once he had Hank in his life, he realized it didn't matter. Family wasn't something he was born into, it was something he'd _found_ , and his last name just got in the way of him ever really feeling included in his new family.

He knew Kara felt the same way. She didn't know her parents either, and she had repeatedly expressed an interest over the years of one day changing her last name to Hank's as soon as she could.

Markus was different. He'd had his birth family for the first eight years of his life, and while he had slowly gotten used to life without them and had embraced his new family just as much as Kara and Connor had, Markus still cherished his full name because besides his memories and photos, it was the only part of his first family that he had left.

Connor sniffed and brought this matter to attention. "What about Markus? I don't think—"

"I already got it covered," Hank said, nodding. "I didn't replace his last name because I know how important the Manfred name is to him, but I hyphenated it. I added mine to the end of his, and I really hope the kid doesn't mind because it's going to be a pain in the ass to go back and change it."

"No," Kara said, as she wiped roughly at her eyes with her fist. "No, he's gonna love it."

Connor agreed.

Hank heaved a sigh and tried to give some semblance of a speech. "I don't know why it took me so long to finally do this. All these years, you know, I never actually had any legal rights over you guys. I was just supposed to be the caretaker for you three so that you could feel what a home felt like, know what a family was, instead of being cooped up in that orphanage. But, you guys are gonna be leaving me soon, heading out for bigger and brighter horizons, and it just got me thinking about how my job will be done then. Well, I didn't wanna be done with you three. So, in this way, I know you'll always be my kids, and you'll know that there's always a place for you to come back to when the real world feels like it's too much."

It was such a sob fest when Hank got done speaking, and it seemed like all three of them were blubbering messes of tears and chuckles and happiness as they let everything they were feeling out. Hank grabbed the two of them up in his arms, and Connor let himself be pulled into this semi-family hug.

Then, Kara pulled away with a smirk on her face. "I guess it's a good thing Markus missed this part because we all know how much he hates crying, and anyway, he would have forgotten all of this by tomorrow with the way he drank."

"I'll be surprised if he even remembered what he did to Evan," Connor said, and Kara's eyes lit up in interest.

"What did he do to him? Oh, boy, I hope it wasn't too bad," she said, placing her hands on her cheeks.

Hank patted Connor's shoulder and pulled away. "Coming from Markus, I'm sure it'll be enough to have the kid running for the hills the next time he sees you."

Kara groaned dramatically, and Hank guided her into the living room with an arm around her shoulder. "I want to hear about everything that happened tonight," he said to her, then he turned to look over his shoulder at Connor. "You, too, boy. Get in here with us."

"Coming," Connor said.

As the sound of Kara's ringing laugh faded from his ears, Connor stared down at the folder in his hand as that heavy feeling that he couldn't quite name washed over him once more.

Tonight was going to be a night he'd remember for the rest of his life, and so many people were a reason for that. Kara because everything he'd done in the name of the prom was for her. Markus because he'd helped prepare the perfect invite for Connor to give to Kara, and without him, he would have just been a heaping mess on the floor before he could've even asked Kara. Even Gavin left his impression on Connor for the night by giving him his first kiss, and an answer to a question he'd long wondered about.

But, most of all, this night was going to be seared into his mind forever because of Hank. Tonight was the night he'd finally given his entire self over to Connor, to _all_ of them, and there was absolutely no barrier between them now that Hank hadn't smashed his way through to get to them.

Connor had always thought the future held a lot of potential for him once Hank rescued him from oblivion when he was ten years old, but now it felt like everything was on course. Like there was nothing that could stop him from achieving everything he wanted to.

He was going to enter the world as Connor Anderson now, and that was who he was always meant to become.

* * *

 **yooooo so did anyone actually need 15k words about prom? Probably not, but this was pretty much the cutest thing omg. Full disclosure, I cried a bunch while writing this, and I hope you guys liked it because I was super excited about this chapter!**

 **And to answer Kamije Celeek: I do love that you mention Todd and Alice because I also thought it would be kind of cool to incorporate Alice especially into this, and while it didn't work out in this chapter, I do have some ideas for them for the next and final chapter :)**


	5. The Andersons

**Some mentions/signs of abuse in this one, though nothing graphic.**

* * *

Life was strange.

It had a funny way of coming full circle and making you see the exact same things you experienced as a kid, just from an adult's point of view now.

It happened one day when Connor was on his way to his criminal justice class when he was 20, and he had to stop at a crossing lane in front of an elementary school. The cross guard that had stopped traffic waved some kids through the crossing lane, and Connor watched with mild interest as a bustle of kids ran across the street. There was one kid walking by himself ahead of a big group of kids who were running straight behind him, and Connor winced to himself, knowing they were going to collide.

Sure enough, the big kid in the front of the group purposefully knocked his shoulder into the lone boy's back, and the kid fell to his hands and knees. Connor's heart immediately went out to the fallen boy because how many times had Connor been in that exact same position?

As the crowded group merely laughed and ran off and ahead, the boy who had knocked the other kid down stayed behind, watching to make sure his friends had left completely before he looked back at the boy apologetically. The kid on the ground couldn't see his face yet, so he couldn't have known that the boy who'd pushed him was sorry.

Then, the big kid did something Connor wasn't expecting: the bullying boy had shaken his head to himself and grabbed the leaner boy up by his arm, unable to wait for the kid to collect himself to pick himself up. Connor was a bit amazed when the boy dusted off the kid's shoulders and arms, knocking away any stray dirt and twigs that had clung to him.

The whole exchange was so familiar to Connor, and he watched the two boys stand around awkwardly until the sound of car horns blaring behind Connor urged him back to the road.

He kept on driving on his way to class with thoughts of Gavin and wondering if he ever looked apologetic when Connor wasn't looking.

Stuff like this happened all the time where he witnessed other people go through the same experiences he'd gone through, and each time it happened, he was able to see from the point of view of other people. It made him question each and every incident he'd ever found himself in and wondering what the other person thought.

But, nothing truly reminded him of his childhood than the situation he would find himself in today.

He was sitting in his police car outside of a worn-down house, lawn unkempt and with little knick knacks knocked down and around, abandoned by the man who lived there. Connor wasn't just sitting outside of this man's house for his health; there was a reason he was staking the place out all by himself.

After high school, Kara had full on decided to become a nurse, so that's what she went to school for. For four years she studied her heart out, she interned at different clinics around the city, and once she graduated and was officially given the title of being a registered nurse, she got a job at a local hospital in the emergency room.

Being in the emergency room was trying. Some of the stories Kara would call up Connor to talk about were horrendous, and he sometimes wondered why she went into that field in the first place if it was so sad and mentally draining.

It was never hard for his brain to kick in with the answer, though. Kara, like Hank, was a natural caretaker and loved to fix someone else up just to see that smile on someone's face, or just to feel like she had made someone's life a little better.

It was the reason why when a sad little girl came into the emergency room two weeks ago with a broken collarbone and a gruff father who smelled of booze, she just couldn't let it go.

According to the kid's father, the little girl—Alice, was her name—fell from a first story window and landed right on her collarbone. Kara didn't like the way Alice silently agreed with Todd's version of events but never wanted to look Kara in the eye as she said it.

Kara was trained for these kind of situations. Nursing wasn't just about learning how to clean a wound or how to pop a shoulder back into place; bedside manner was an important part of being a nurse, and learning how to read and react to their patients was just as vital to create a positive atmosphere for a hurt patient.

So, Kara noticed the signs. She saw how Alice's dad would take the lead on questions and how defensive he got when Kara wanted a straight answer from Alice's own mouth, and after she'd patched Alice up in a sling and told her that a broken collarbone just needed time to heal, her father had taken her hand and left as soon as he could.

The whole experience had left Kara feeling weird and anxious and like something wasn't right. She knew if she went to the hospital team and told them about her suspicions, that they'd do their part in sending a report to the police about the possibility of abuse happening in the home, but she also knew that probably nothing would actually get done in the end. So, she went to someone she trusted.

Connor was 24 and two years past his stint with the police academy and was pretty comfortable in his job as a police officer with the DPD when Kara came to him with her suspicions, and with the way she was so distraught over Alice and wondering if she was okay in her home situation, he knew he couldn't refuse Kara this.

It wasn't exactly legal, but Kara had been able to find out Alice's address from the paperwork her father had filled out when they'd checked into the ER, so once Kara texted this information over to Connor, he got right on it.

So, today, he'd ridden up to the address in her text and parked alongside the curb outside the house, and that was how Connor found himself stationed outside this man's house. Connor hopped out of his police car, and leaned against the car's hood for a moment as he inspected the house and the surrounding area.

The slowly decaying house didn't scream picture perfect family, but that wasn't really much to go on. Maybe they just couldn't afford repairs for the exterior of the house, who knew?

As Connor cautiously approached the intimidating house, he thought back to what he knew about the man. He'd done his due diligence and looked up this Todd Williams who lived at 239 Mortar street in the police database, and much to Connor's dismay, he'd found that the guy had a bit of a record and a reputation as a small-time drug dealer for the neighborhood addicts.

It was definitely not the kind of environment for a child to be in, but since his last arrest was more than five years ago, there was nothing steadily pointing him in the direction that Todd was an unfit father right in this moment.

He could have gotten counseling over the years, could have been sober now, but from the worry on Kara's face and how much Todd's behavior agitated her, Connor sincerely doubted it.

When he walked up the creaky stairs to the front door, he took a minute to just listen, to see if he could hear anything unusual coming from inside the house. He did this every time he walked into a high-risk situation he knew nothing about, and even though this wasn't high-risk, Connor still technically wasn't authorized to do this kind of thing while he wasn't on duty. He was risking a lot by following an unauthorized lead with no back up, but that was just the chance Connor was willing to take for Kara, and for this little girl.

It was both a blessing and a terrible sadness when he heard the yelling.

It gave him the incentive to spur into action, and before he could think about the consequences to his action, he beat his fist on the door, and said, "DPD, open up!"

Whatever was happening inside must have been bigger to Todd than the goddamn police showing up at his door, because no one answered. And, when the sound of a little girl's cry filtered out to Connor, he braced his hand on the gun holstered to his side and unfastened the strap, just in case.

He was very close to busting the door down with his newly acquired upper body strength thanks to the academy, but he didn't have to. The door abruptly flew open, and Connor was suddenly faced with an out of breath, clearly fuming middle aged man.

"What the hell is this? What have I done?" Todd Williams said angrily, looking Connor over from head to toe. But, there was a certain twitchy feeling coming from the man in the way his eyes darted quickly from point to point, in the way his body trembled just the slightest in the jerkiest of movements.

Connor let his hand fall from its light perch on his holstered gun and cocked his head at the way Todd immediately assumed he was in trouble, but then again, cops didn't go knocking on doors for fun.

This was a total breach of all the rules Connor had had drilled into him during those six months he spent training in the police academy, but there just simply was no time. From the urgent way Kara spoke, if something wasn't done now, then there would be nothing to be done for later.

So, Connor swallowed as subtly as he could, and he did what he did best while trying to gleam information: he lied.

"Good afternoon, sir, I don't mean to bother you today, but, there have been reports of illegal activity stemming from this area. Are you alone here?"

Todd narrowed his shrewd eyes at him, and Connor didn't like the way he felt like he was being sized up.

"No. No, I don't have anyone here, I don't know who told you that, but they got their facts wrong," Todd said, and he reached over to scratch at his arm, agitated.

Connor was just about to ask him if he was sure when a little girl came into view behind Todd. Alice was peeking around the corner of a wall behind Todd, and when Connor caught sight of her red-rimmed eyes and the huge glaring red mark on her cheek, he faced Todd once more, heat coursing through his veins at the obvious sight.

But, Connor was good at concealing his emotions when it mattered, so he beat down the anger at the mark on her face as much as he could and glanced back at Alice. "Hey, there," Connor said, and tried to paste on a smile for the little girl, to try and show her that he was a safe person. "You doin' okay?"

Connor let his eyes flit toward Todd pointedly, and the other man drew a hand back to rub at his neck as he tried to shuffle in the way of Connor's view of Alice. "Uh, yeah. Just my kid's here, that's all. But, everything's fine here, so—"

"Would you mind if I took a look inside? Just so I have something solid to send back to my superiors."

Todd huffed and ran a hand back and forth through his tangly, unruly hair, and after a quick glance back at Alice, he relented, opening the door a bit wider for Connor.

"Sure, yeah, whatever. But, could you make it quick 'cause we gotta be heading out soon," Todd said as Connor slid past him and into the house.

The inside was exactly what Connor had expected from the looks of the outside. There were greasy pizza boxes and empty 2-liter bottles of soda lying around on the kitchen counter, stacked on top of other trash that looked like it'd been there for days; half of the furniture—from one of the chairs at the table, to the railing on the stairs—looked broken, paint chipping off the sides; Alice, herself, was wearing a sweater with a severely stretched out neckline, and Connor wondered if that had just happened moments before.

Todd didn't seem to know what to do with himself, so he left Connor and started walking toward a room behind the kitchen agitatedly. The whole thing had Connor's nerves on edge, and he suddenly wished that he'd called his partner at least to tell him where he was.

Alice moved out from behind the wall, and when the sight caught his eye, he immediately turned his full attention to the 10-year-old and bent down to her level, bouncing on the heels of his shoes to balance himself.

"Alice? That's your name, right?" The girl turned her head to the side to hide away the injured side of her face, but she nodded. Connor rubbed at his own cheek where hers was an angry red. "You want to tell me what happened there? You won't get in trouble, I promise you."

He kept his voice gentle, allowing her to feel in control of the situation. And, he was rewarded with her soft eyes gazing at him hopefully, _trustingly_ , and that wasn't something he took lightly.

"He just gets so angry sometimes," she said, and the softness there in her barely there voice made his heart clench.

"Who does? Your dad?" Connor said, and she was just about to speak again, but her eyes floated to behind Connor, and she faced away from him once more.

"Hey! What the hell are you telling him?" Todd said, and Connor jumped back to his feet as Todd bustled by him and grabbed a hold of Alice's shoulder. He barely touched her, it looked like, but Alice shouted out in pain as soon as he made contact, and Todd immediately let go of her, shooting wide eyes at Connor. "I barely even touched her, man."

Connor eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he watched Alice gently place a hand against her shoulder, and then he realized. "Where's her sling? Isn't she still recovering from a fractured collarbone?"

Todd's hands came up to tangle in his hair, and he looked absolutely like he was tweaking out. "She didn't even need it anymore. The little brat was just looking for sympathy, she's not actually hurt." Then, Todd stopped his restless, agitated twitching to glance at Connor as he narrowed his eyes. "Wait… How did you know that?"

Connor was done with the games. He'd seen enough and had enough evidence to bring Todd in on the very least on child negligence charges, so instead of answering the man's foolish question, he reached behind him for his cuffs.

"Sir, I'm gonna have to ask you to turn around."

He reached for Todd, but of course, the other man jumped back and out of his reach. "What the fuck for? Fuck you, man, this is my goddamn house—"

Connor was quick. He shot out for the other man and managed to push him face first into the wall, using all of his strength to restrain this man who was nearly twice his size in weight. Todd struggled and at one point even knocked his head back painfully into Connor's bottom lip, but he fought through the taste of blood and managed to pin Todd back into the wall with his shoulder as he locked the cuffs into place around his struggling wrists.

Todd began cursing and yelling at both Connor and Alice, screaming obscenities and conspiracy theories at them as Connor struggled profusely to walk the man out of the house and into the back of his police car. He finally did it, but it took a couple minutes and more than a few kicks to the shin.

Alice was waiting at the threshold of the front door, watching with wide, scared eyes as her dad screamed at her through the bulletproof glass of Connor's police car, and Connor beat his fist against the glass in an attempt to get him to shut up and leaned against the car window to block Alice's view of her riled-up father.

Connor hesitated with what to do next because this whole thing hadn't exactly been legal. He wasn't just allowed to go up to people's houses and inspect their home life with no kind of probable cause of any kind except the word of his sister. It was definitely enough for Connor, but his superiors definitely wouldn't see it that way.

There was one thing he could do, though.

Connor dialed the familiar number that he knew by heart by now and hit speaker on his phone as he waited for the voice of his partner to pick up.

The sound of Gavin's snickering voice is what greeted him. "Just couldn't wait another hour for our shift, could you?" he said, and Connor closed his eyes as he let the bottom of the phone rest on his chin.

"I need your help."

Immediately, Gavin cut off his annoying chuckles, and he could practically hear the the guy sit up straight at Connor's sharp tone. "What happened?"

Connor relayed to his partner just what went down, and while he didn't waste time with the _how's_ and the _why's_ , Gavin only needed to hear that Connor was in trouble to get his ass out of the apartment and come find him.

While Connor waited, he went back inside with Alice and tried to keep her calm. Todd hadn't pushed hard on her shoulder, but the bone fracture was still so fragile that any type of pressure was enough to get the pain flowing.

Connor noticed that her sling was flung up on top of the refrigerator, and he grabbed it down to place it back on her. The girl flinched and cried out as he navigated the sling through her arm and over her shoulder, and Connor didn't want to think about how that made him sad.

He'd tried talking to Alice, but besides a few mumbles insisting that she was okay, the girl remained pretty much tight-lipped. He thought about calling Kara because surely she'd know what to do, but then Gavin came rushing through the door, confusion on his face.

"What the fuck happened to your face?" was the first thing Gavin said, and Connor huffed.

"There is a child here, watch your language," he said, and grabbed Gavin by the arm as he marched them into the kitchen and away from Alice's youthful ears.

Once they were alone, Connor leaned his lower back against the counter, and he could feel how sweaty his palms were when he braced them against the counter. Gavin only raised his eyebrows at him as he folded his arms across his chest, waiting for an explanation.

Connor sighed and went into the short version of events. How Kara met Alice when she came into the ER with a broken collarbone. How from Todd's reactions, she could tell something wasn't right at home. How when Connor looked into this Todd Williams, he found that the man had quite the extensive criminal record. And, since Connor needed Gavin's help, he even mentioned how he had no authority to be knocking on Todd's door while he was off duty in the first place.

Gavin listened aptly with furrowed eyebrows and serious eyes. Over the years, Gavin had lost some of those childish antics he had in him, just like Hank had said he would. It wasn't completely gone, though; if anything, it was more refined to fit the situation and the people Gavin were around. If he wasn't comfortable or he didn't like the company he had, then he let some of that jerkiness out of himself, just like old times.

But, at the same time, he wasn't afraid to let someone know when he respected them. It was a side to Gavin that Connor had seen more and more of over the years, which made it somewhat bearable when they had become roommates after they finished the police academy together

When they became partners, Connor had dared to think that he'd had a friend in his one-time nemesis. After what happened at prom with Connor insisting on them having some time to theirselves, Gavin pretty much ignored Connor. He didn't taunt him, he didn't glance his way, he just straight up acted like Connor wasn't there. Connor wasn't going to lie and say that it didn't hurt, but he understood.

But, college and the academy had changed Gavin for the better, and after two years of having his steady friendship to lean on, Connor trusted him enough now to know that Gavin would know what to do.

When Connor wrapped up his version of events, Gavin merely studied him through narrowed eyes as he gnawed his bottom lip, and Connor knew the scheming wheels were turning in Gavin's head.

"Fuck, kid, and I didn't think you had it in you."

Connor shook his head, squinting at him. "What—? Gavin, did you hear anything I just—"

"Yeah, yeah, cool it, I heard you. Look, first things first, we get some ice on this busted lip before it looks like you've got a fucking balloon for a lip," Gavin said, and he scrounged around until he found a zip lock bag. He went to the freezer and scooped up some ice to stick in the sandwich bag before he came back to Connor.

It was similar to how Connor had cared for Alice not twenty minutes ago, but the only difference here was that when Gavin pushed up into his personal space like he straight-up owned it and gently pressed the ice pack to Connor's lip, Connor didn't flinch.

Gavin and Connor were looking at each other as he held the ice pack against his lip, the cool burn fueling the intensity of the moment for Connor. He tried to convey with his eyes a simple _thank you_ , something to tell him that he appreciated this attentive care. Gavin only blinked softly at him, if a blink could ever be considered _soft_ —which, in Connor's opinion, it totally could.

After the tender moment that neither of them acknowledged but both of them felt, Connor replaced Gavin's hand on the ice pack to allow the other man to back up and fold his arms into himself once more.

"Now that you don't look like Bozo, we move on to step two: turn this place upside down in search of some hard evidence we can bring him in on. I'm sure the asshole's still dealing, all we have to do is find the treasure."

Gavin and Connor spent the next twenty minutes looking under every dirty cushion, every broken lamp, and all the disgusting boxes of pizza in search of any of the drugs they both knew were there somewhere. Todd was a dealer in red ice, one of the newer brands of meth to hit the streets in Connor's generation. So, they knew what they were looking for, they just didn't know where.

After Connor carefully placed a cushion back into place on the couch with his leather gloves on, he saw that Alice was still sitting on the picture window that he'd left her on, watching Connor with a look that had him slowly easing himself back into a standing position in wonder.

Of course. Why hadn't he thought to ask her before?

He walked over to Alice and carefully knelt down in front of her, and he was surprised at her steady gaze and how she never wavered from his eyes. It seemed when her dad wasn't around, she was a tough little girl.

"Alice," he said gently, knowingly, "do you know what I'm looking for?"

She didn't say a word. All she did was grab his hand in her little one and guide them to a room in the back behind the kitchen. The laundry room was hot and mucky, and it felt like they had just got done doing the laundry before they came in.

Alice stopped before one of the shelves and pointed at the detergent, which was previously overlooked in Connor's perusing. He grabbed it up in his hands and tried to glance beneath it to see if there was something of worth at the bottom of the glass container. He couldn't see it, so he went diving for it, sloshing his hand around through the powdery substance until his fingers caught on to something smooth, plastic. He grabbed a hold of it and pulled it out to reveal a small bag of red ice.

"Daddy goes there even when he doesn't wash the clothes."

His eyes cut to her, and he didn't think he could hold back the sorrow coursing through him this time. It just cut right to the heart of him how this sad looking ten-year-old girl knew about the drugs in her house, and even where they were hidden. He didn't even want to think about anything else she'd been through because then he'd have trouble keeping himself from doing something stupid to Todd.

Connor gently grasped the shoulder that wasn't broken and said, "You're a brave girl, Alice, and I have a feeling life is about to get a whole lot better for you."

Gavin came in the room then, and Connor passed the evidence over to him. Gavin told Connor that he'd take care of everything, just like that. No questions, no complaints, no whining. Connor wanted to know how and what Connor should say to corroborate with whatever Gavin was going to say back at the precinct, but Gavin just told him to shut up and take Alice to the station. To _Hank_.

Dealing with the captain was easier these days now that the captain also doubled as his _dad._

That had been a long time coming, and absolutely no one was surprised when Hank was announced as the new captain after Fowler retired last year.

But, just because Connor's superior was his adoptive dad didn't mean he could do whatever he pleased. If anything, Hank was stricter when it came to Connor than anyone else on the force because he wanted to make sure Connor became the best he could be, and if he let him slack even a little, then he would not only be letting himself down as captain, but he'd be failing Connor, as well.

So, as Connor drove Alice to the precinct in Gavin's car, and Gavin escorted them to the precinct in their shared police car ahead of him, he was still nervous at bringing the situation to his superior. He didn't know what to say, but he trusted Gavin now. They were partners, and in that time, Gavin had never given him a reason not to trust him. So, it was all Connor could do now to let Gavin handle this one.

They pulled up to the station in no time, and Connor told Alice to stay in the car as he met up with Gavin at the hood of his car.

"All right, so here's what you're gonna do," Gavin said, swiping his thumb across his bottom lip as he thought. "I'll register Todd in. I'll fill out the paperwork and tell them how we'd heard reports in the neighborhood of some suspicious activity going on at his house and decided to check it out. We went in, we found the girl in a fucked up state, and when we tried to question him, he got hostile, he popped you in the mouth, and we took him down."

"Are you sure?" Connor said, and he could feel his chest begin to tighten with the reality finally hitting him. He'd taken down a guy illegally. And, it didn't matter that he'd helped to protect this girl in the process because the law was a tricky thing to dabble with, and Connor had just done something immoral in the eyes of the law.

"Come on, kid, you should know by now that I've gotten myself out of more fucked up situations than this. This is nothing compared to what I've done, and even when you're bending the law, you're still managing to be the good guy in all of this. Saving children and all that."

"But—"

"But, no fucking thing," Gavin said, and he grasped Connor in the space between his neck and shoulder until he had his attention. Connor eyed him from beneath his lashes, and Gavin looked so sure. He was so confident, and he found that he couldn't doubt Gavin when he looked like this.

"Okay," Connor said, nodding. "Okay," and this time he said it stronger, with more resolve. Gavin nodded at him and released him from his hold.

"Good. Now go do what you do best and take care of that kid. I'll do the dirty work … as always," he said, but he said the last part softly, and Connor wasn't sure if he was meant to hear that part. Connor wanted to thank him, to tell him that he didn't have to do this for him but that he appreciated it anyway, but Gavin was already walking away and opening the back of the police car for Todd.

Connor took a deep breath and told himself that he'd thank Gavin later, and then he went back for Alice. The little girl insisted on grabbing onto his hand as he guided her into the police station once Gavin had taken the irate father in first, and Connor reactively squeezed her hand once.

He sought out Hank immediately, and once he was safely confined in the captains office, he started talking.

"I did something," Connor blurted out, and really, why did he think he could keep something as big as this a secret? Especially from Hank?

Hank was seated behind his desk, squinting hard at his computer when they walked in, and at Connor's declaration, the older man merely raised his eyebrows at Connor, his eyes briefly touching on Alice at his hand. "Say what, now?"

Connor huffed from the anti-climactic feel of it all, and before he could speak freely, he had to do something with Alice. He turned to the scared girl at his side and pulled a little on her arm to get her attention.

"Can you go wait for me at my desk? It's right outside here, it's the one that says Anderson on the name tag. I'll be there in a sec."

"Okay," she said, in that soft voice of hers, and then she slowly made her way out the door.

"Damn it, Connor," Hank said tiredly once the door shut softly behind her. "I don't know what in the hell you got yourself into today, but I already know I'm not gonna like it."

For Hank, Connor went into vast detail about everything that happened right from when Kara talked to him about Alice and the hospital stint, all the way to him illegally coming up on Todd's doorstep and calling Gavin down to help him figure out where to go next.

Connor's heart just fell the more he kept speaking because with every word Connor spoke, the more concerned Hank grew with his lines of disappointment showing up on his face. He was too far deep into this situation now, though, to worry about that.

When he finished his epic tale, Hank had his head in his hands by now, staring sullenly at his desk as Connor let his head hang back over the back of his chair, clammy hands covering his face. He didn't want to hear what Hank had to say. He didn't want to hear about how badly he'd fucked up and ruined Hank's good name.

"I just don't get it," Hank said, and Connor could hear the man as he dropped his hands heavily onto the mahogany desk. "I just don't get how you could be so stupid. What were you thinking, boy? Have I taught you nothing over the last two years—hell, over the past _fifteen_ years—just how important it was to follow protocol and to respect the authority of the law?"

"I know, Hank, I know. But—"

"No, you're gonna listen," Hank said, and his sharp tone brokered no room for argument. "Now, I understand that this guy is probably just another asshole abuser who shouldn't have a kid with him to begin with, but nowhere in the fucking handbook does it state that you have to abuse your power as an authority figure to get what you want."

Connor's hands abruptly left his face as he sat up straight in his chair, his veins alight with a slow burning fire. "You think I wanted this?"

"You had a choice, Connor, and you chose the easy way."

"No," Connor said, and he flew up from his seat. He knew their voices were probably rising and anyone outside the room would be able to tell that the two of them were butting heads, but he didn't care. He _had_ to make Hank understand. "Nothing about this was easy. You know how it is, Hank, you know the drill. We get called out on things like this all the time, and how many times do we actually save the kid that we all know is being abused? Not very often because we don't have _evidence._ "

Hank was still throwing daggers at Connor with his narrowed eyes, but he didn't say a word. Connor hoped that was because he was truly listening to Connor and silently agreeing with him.

Connor wiped a hand across his mouth and, unbiddingly, his gaze traveled over to his desk which he could see through the clear glass window pane of the office. Alice was sitting at a chair at his desk, and his heart spiked painfully as he remembered a scene told to him a long time ago.

When he faced Hank again, he dropped the hostility within him and couldn't help the bittersweet feeling coursing through him.

"Look at her," Connor said softly, and after a stubborn moment, Hank huffed and turned his glance to the little girl sitting at Connor's desk. "Doesn't she remind you of someone?"

Hank scoffed and glanced at Connor warily, but he couldn't help but gaze back at the little girl in interest.

"You told me yourself how Kara came to live with you. Her foster parents were not good people, and when they flew onto your radar because of some illegal gambling, so did the negligence Kara had been enduring come to light. You said that when you saw her sitting there at your desk, scared and alone, you couldn't stand it. And, you did something about it." Connor stepped closer and let his finger hit the desk as he spoke. "This is me doing something. Kara knows her stuff; she knew what she was talking about when she said that this girl was not okay at home, and I believed her enough to go out and check this out immediately, and what do I find? I find this girl staring up at me with a fresh hand mark on her cheek. I see tears running down her face, and I see her father tweaked out on something, I don't know, but, my guess is he dips into that red ice he sells."

Hank had his eyes downcast as Connor tried to explain himself. Any kind of guilt or negative energy Connor had felt because of the circumstances on bringing Todd in were gone as he realized what he actually accomplished just now. He saved a little girl; he, hopefully, was about to put an abusive drug dealer behind bars; and he didn't feel any guilt about the way he had to get it done.

Hank blew air out from between his puffed up cheeks noisily as he leaned all the way back in his swivel chair, tapping his hand anxiously on his desk. "Don't get me wrong, son. I know your heart is in a good place, and … I probably shouldn't say this, but I am proud of you. But, can you understand why I'm not 100% on board with this situation? You broke protocol, you decided to use that badge of yours to brew up some sort of bum ass story so you could get your way into that man's house, and it's completely immoral. It's now my job as captain of this force to keep everyone honest, and what kind of captain would I be if I showed favoritism toward my own son? If anyone found out about this—"

"No one will find out. Gavin is helping me, and besides, it's not like we're covering up our mistakes. No one got hurt. We didn't abuse our power for bad, we didn't hurt any innocent people today. We simply uncovered a man who was good at keeping his drug habit a secret and rescued a girl from having to grow up in such a tainted environment. Now, does that sound like we did a bad thing?"

Hank sighed. "Of course it doesn't. But, I just wanna make sure that you know that if I turn the other way on this, if I blindly sign off on this report legitimizing your version of events, I want you to understand that this is a one time thing. We're not dirty cops, and you don't get to the top by lying and scheming and abusing your authority. You get there by putting in hard work and being damn good at your job, no matter how tricky it is."

Some of the anxiety plaguing Connor lessened as it sounded as if he had Hank on his side now. He didn't realize how much he'd wanted his approval, but now that he got it, he realized it was the only thing he'd actually been worried about.

"I understand completely, Hank. You raised me to be honest, and I still hold that close to me," Connor said, and Hank's eyes softened. "I wish there could have been another way to rescue this girl … Alice. Her name is Alice," he said, and both men glanced at the sullen girl at Connor's desk.

"She's a cute kid," Hank said.

"She's a sad kid," Connor said, and they glanced at each other at the same time. Not a word was spoken, but something passed between them. Some unspoken notion that told Connor that this wasn't the last they were going to see of this little girl—not if they could help it.

On the official paperwork, Gavin named himself as the arresting officer on Todd's case, which was so much easier for Connor because in this way, no one would question Connor about anything to do with this case. Todd was being charged with possession of an illegal substance and child endangerment for having the drugs in the house, and after a blood test showed that he was jacked up on narcotics already, when Todd started spouting words about how he was ambushed and set up by the cops, no one listened to a thing he had to say.

After Gavin finished up with doing the paperwork and sent Todd to overnight lock up until they could move him to a correctional facility, Connor went to speak with Alice. He explained to her that she had a choice: either she could ride along with Connor and be taken to social services—who would no doubt place her in an orphanage by the end of the week—or, she could go to stay with Hank—where there was a _dog._

It hadn't even been a choice in the end.

Even sad, sullen Alice could have her day brightened up by something as fun-loving and simple as a dog.

Connor left Alice in the safety of Hank's care for the day while he officially started his shift for work. Despite the emotional roller coaster he'd endured today, and the fact that Gavin had been party to basically a small police coverup, Gavin had gone on the rest of the day as if it were a regular Friday. As if they were just two rookie cops with big hopes and no taints to their name.

Connor hadn't been a cop for long, but he already felt like he knew the weariness of having a job so mentally and physically demanding. It was hard to go out each day and wonder what kind of petty criminals he was going to face that day. It was draining when he got a call to respond to a domestic violence situation and have to pull up and witness often young girls with bruises on their arms or faces just because they had a volatile boyfriend.

Hank had been right when he said this job wasn't for the faint of heart. Markus, too, knew what he was saying all those years ago when he constantly told Connor over and over how dumb he was for wanting to go into policing. But, when Connor had said he wanted to go into policing, he meant he wanted to be a detective. He didn't necessarily think about the prerequisites to that and how there was an order to things. He couldn't just jump out of college and become a detective with the snap of his fingers. First, he had to start off as being a cop with the DPD, and from there, only time and hard work would tell if he made it to be a detective. Hank had said if he followed his guts and respected the rules, then he could be the next youngest lieutenant in Detroit.

And, Connor never thought he would ever say it, but this policing business was a lot easier with Gavin by his side. After college, they went through the academy together, and Gavin had gotten over prom night by then. It seemed that he took Connor's words to heart because not only did he drop the mean remarks toward Connor, but he'd started actively initiating conversations between them.

It had been strange the first time it happened. Connor had just been sipping on his orange juice that he'd packed from home in one of the communal rooms, reading over a letter from Markus—who was talking all about the experiences he was finding with Simon over in Paris—when Gavin sat down beside him, a steaming cup of coffee in his hands, and peeked over to ask what Connor was reading. Connor had been startled into silence, at first, but when Gavin only stared at Connor with nothing but earnest eyes, Connor found himself explaining about the letter in his hands, about how Markus had gone to some magical fountain and dropped coins in the water with Simon.

Their conversation didn't end there, and for something close to three years, Connor had never stopped talking to Gavin. The things they talked about dipped into personal territory after a while, with Connor explaining more about his childhood and what life was like after he came to live with Hank. He told Gavin all the embarrassing stories about Markus, and all the times Kara had saved his ass while growing up.

But, Gavin wasn't only a listener in this situation. It had taken longer than Connor, but eventually, Gavin started confiding in Connor about his own childhood and just what life was like growing up in the Reed family. Tough, disciplinarian is what came to mind when Gavin talked about his father. He had been a captain in the marines who ran a strict household with just Gavin and his mother there in the house. His dad died, though, when Gavin reached middle school, and while Gavin always insisted he could care less about "that anal prick", Connor knew Gavin had respected the man and missed him underneath all that bravado.

With each piece Gavin revealed about himself, the more things began to click into place for Connor. His tough home life didn't excuse his behavior, but it was a reason. A reason Connor knew was hidden there because nobody acted like a jerk for nothing.

They'd shared these stories about themselves in the dark of night while the world slept. The academy took six months of their young adult lives, and after their training and official recognitions as police officers, they'd decided to rent an apartment together. It had been Connor's idea, and while Gavin had been skeptical at first and wary, Connor had insisted that it was the smart thing to do. They were friends—Connor's only true friend outside of his family, if he were being honest—and with their starter jobs not making them much, it was realistic that they'd have to room up with people, anyway; why live with strangers when they could live with friends?

For two years, they'd been roommates. They split the bills in half, they split the grocery shopping in half, they split the house chores in half, and if Connor ended up doing a bit more cleaning than Gavin did, nobody ever mentioned it. How could he when Gavin did other things for him? Things like today, with Todd.

It still bothered Connor the way Gavin seemed resigned to take on the dirty side of the job, and his whispered words of _as_ _always_ stuck in his mind, playing over and over until a tightening feeling coiled around his throat, guilt forcing him to think about things he didn't want to. He didn't want to believe that he always pushed the dirty work on Gavin, but what did he mean when he said that?

They were driving home now in the late of night, their shift done and over with. Nothing too strenuous happened after Todd, which Connor was grateful for. It gave him the energy to think about exactly what he wanted to say to Gavin, to thank him.

Gavin was in the driver's seat pulling up to a stop at a red light, and Connor was drumming his fingers on the door handle in deep thought.

"You keep tapping those little nimble fingers of yours, and I'm not liable for what happens to them in about five seconds."

Connor stopped his tapping and smirked at the window. "First, you take away and _lose_ my lucky coin, and now you take away my spirit for rhythm? I'm sensing a pattern here."

Gavin smacked his lips together in annoyance, and Connor full on grinned to himself. "I said I was fucking sorry. How was I supposed to know a goddamn bird was going to swoop down and snatch it right from my fucking fingers? Those are evil birds, I'm telling you; I still have nightmares."

"You do not," Connor said, chuckling softly to himself. Then, he swallowed as his humor left him, and he turned around in his seat to gaze at Gavin.

Connor remembered going through school, and every time he glanced at the other boy, he would always get this jittery feeling in his stomach. A feeling that twisted his insides and made him feel confused and anxious and … right. It always felt right gazing at him, like he was just waiting for the other boy to finally look his way and notice.

Gavin gazed his way now, as much as he could while driving, and Connor could see the subtle change in his partner's attitude immediately as he sensed the change in atmosphere.

Connor felt that feeling again. That warm, putty-like feeling, but instead of feeling anxious like before, all he felt was the biggest weight get lifted off his shoulder.

If the old Gavin we're here, he probably would have said something right now along the lines of _quit staring and being so fucking weird._

As it was, times had changed, and their relationship had changed. Neither of them were blind to the soft touches they shared, how Gavin's pinky would run over Connor's when he passed him a folder, or the way Connor would lift Gavin's feet while they were lounging on the couch and rest them on his lap. They were tender, quiet moments lost to oblivion, and while he knew they both knew it meant something, they never spoke about it. Connor didn't want to because then he was afraid he'd lose the magic of it all.

This was one of those moments; with Connor quietly mapping out every mole on the side of Gavin's face, counting every piece of hair that had fallen out of his slick part—and Gavin letting him.

"You know, you didn't have to do that for me today," Connor started, voice soft so as not to sound so harsh in the quiet of their car.

Gavin narrowed his eyes as he stared at the road, the lights from the street lamps illuminating their car every few seconds, and Connor could see his chest inflate with a quite sigh. "That ice-dealing asshole was a prick. Believe me, I didn't only do it for you," Gavin said and briefly glanced at Connor from the corner of his eyes.

Connor sucked his lips in between his teeth in amusement. As much as Gavin had improved on his attitude, it was still hard to shed that one layer, that one piece that prevented Gavin from straight out being nice for the hell of it. Connor hadn't outright mentioned it, but Gavin had secretly become his latest mission; he was determined to get through to Gavin and to try and help him become the best version of himself.

"I just want to say thanks. I messed up, I know I did. And, instead of letting me take the fall, you took over everything, and that means a lot to me. No one else would have done that for me. Anyone else would have just let me fumble my way through my big screw-up and watched me burn. But, not you."

Gavin was very pointedly staring out the windshield now, and before Connor could go on talking all sappy, Gavin abruptly turned to the side and pulled their car to a hasty stop along the side of the road. They were on the highway, now, clear of any danger of other cars bumping into them as they parked all the way to the side, so, Gavin only flicked on their brake lights and turned around to fully face Connor.

"I wish you'd quit talking like that."

Connor furrowed his eyebrows. "Like what?"

"Like … like … _that._ Like you have no friends in the world and you're all alone. You're not alone, you have a whole fucking team who'd come to your defense with the snap of your fingers. I didn't do anything special, so you can take me off that fucking pedestal you have me on because I can name about twenty guys on the force who would have done the exact same thing as me."

Gavin was speaking rudely to Connor, but he wasn't trying to be mean, despite his harsh tone. Instead, Connor got the feeling that Gavin didn't like all the praise Connor was giving him; almost like he felt he didn't deserve it.

Connor cocked his head to the side as he studied Gavin—his tone, his words, his sharp features. "Why can't I just say thank you for helping me out?"

"Because you don't have to. Besides, once is enough, Jesus, you don't have to kiss the ground I walk on just because I acted halfway decent today."

"I'm simply showing gratitude."

"Cool, noted. Now, can we please just put this thing behind us now? I'd be good if we never brought it up again."

Gavin huffed and slumped in his seat as he faced forward once more. He made no move to restart the car, though, and Connor suddenly felt a calm wash over him. He could do this.

"If you won't let me tell you how much I appreciate it, then I'll just have to show you," Connor said.

Gavin only had time to snort a little breath of air before Connor was leaning across the middle console and gently cupping Gavin's face with one hand to turn him toward him. He didn't want to rush this, but he didn't want to wait to give Gavin a chance to stop him before he could mash their lips together, hard.

Gavin tensed up immediately beneath his hand, jaw locking up, his lips taut beneath Connor's own, but Connor didn't want to pull away. Not immediately; he wasn't one to give up.

And, his patience was rewarded after a few moments when Gavin went straight for it and opened his mouth up to Connor. The sensation of kissing Gavin for the second time in his life was surreal, like one of the many unconscious dreams he'd had about a moment just like this. Where before there had been smooth skin, now there was a thin layer of roughness to Gavin's jaw, his closely shaved beard scratching along Connor's hands. Gavin still tasted like lingering cigarettes—a habit he was unwilling to quit—but instead of the spiked punch at prom, a slight tangy, _familiar_ , sweetness accompanied the smoky taste, balancing out the bitter taste of the smoke.

Connor pulled away as he recognized the taste on the other man's lips, the sound of their lips smacking apart sounding hot to his ears, and gazed at Gavin through half-lidded eyes. "Did you drink the last of my orange juice?" he said, not accusing but because he wanted to see Gavin sputter about nervously.

He smiled as Gavin opened his eyes, confusion sweeping away the relaxed look on his face, and he huffed and pushed Connor away from him.

"Did you fucking taste that? You don't miss a goddamn thing, do you? It's not like you don't go into my stash because I know you do. I know you ate my last granola bar because I know that you know where I hide them, and I went looking for it the other day, and it was fucking gone, so don't get on my case about the fucking—"

"Shut up," Connor said gently, chuckling as he listened to the other man's anxious rambling. "I was only teasing. I don't care if you drink my stuff; you should already know that since you've been doing it for years, and I haven't said a word about it."

Gavin was flustered for only a moment before he chuckled once and his tongue darted out to swipe across his bottom lip as he gazed at Connor. "You've got jokes."

Warmth was spreading through Connor as the two of them rested against their seats for a moment. Connor didn't know what Gavin was thinking about, but all Connor could think about was how soft Gavin's lips were, and how much he wanted to lean over and kiss him again.

"Remember prom?" Gavin said randomly, hesitantly, rapping his finger against his pants anxiously. He didn't wait for a response before he continued on. "I was so fucking pissed that night. After you flat out rejected my ass, I went home and just started acting like an idiot. I got into my step-dad's liquor cabinet and just drank myself to sleep."

Connor could feel his eyebrows scrunch together as he listened. He sounded so honest, and there was a harsh edge to his tone, as if he were mocking himself by telling this to Connor.

Gavin and Connor had never spoken about prom night or about the way Gavin ignored him until the academy reunited them once more. Connor already knew why the other boy ignored him, and he'd never asked for an explanation, but Gavin apparently felt the need to explain himself.

"I just felt fucking humiliated."

"Gavin," Connor said, not wanting to hear any more. It was really starting to drag him down, and he hadn't anticipated this. He'd just wanted to say thanks for being a friend, and Gavin was stirring up some bad memories for Connor.

"Just hear me out," Gavin said, and turned in his seat to face Connor properly now. "I'm just saying how I get it now. I get why you did what you did, and I know I acted like a jackass after prom, but I was young and dumb, like how brash teens are. I couldn't see your side of things, so I just assumed the worst: that you didn't actually like me, and I'd just made the biggest fool of myself by kissing you that night. But, now I see that sending me away was the smart thing to do. It gave me time to see myself; _really_ see just what kind of prick I was to everyone, and I tried to change because of that. I tried to change for…"

Connor didn't acknowledge what Gavin left unsaid. _For you._ But, Connor knew. The unspoken thought made Connor's chest feel full, so tight with emotion that he couldn't stop himself from reaching across the middle console and grabbing Gavin's hand in his own. The other man tensed for only a minute before flipping his hand over and threading his fingers tightly through Connor's, eyes never quite touching on Connor's.

"You really see it now?" Connor asked because that was something that had plagued his mind more often than it should have. He'd been worried that Gavin just thought Connor was heartless for turning down his obvious affections. But, to hear that Gavin finally understood, that he agreed with Connor's decision back at prom, was just the very outcome he'd been hoping for when he made that decision.

They were friends now. They cared for one another and looked out for each other, and they were _partners_ on the force. That bond alone was enough to spur their impending friendship on, but to hear that Gavin was well and truly over Connor's initial rejection was exactly what Connor needed to hear.

"I've grown a lot, Con," he said, and Connor's heart squeezed at the nickname. "But, like a wise man once said, the academy beat that bad attitude right out of me. Just about knocked some real sense into my thick skull."

Connor let a startled laugh escape him before he covered his mouth with his hand. "Oh, god, you still remember that day with Hank?"

Gavin raised his eyebrows and jutted his bottom lip out in false consideration. "Hard not to. In fact, I think about that day quite a lot. I'll deny this if you ever repeat it, but seeing you get all hot and bothered by me that day and you throwing me against the wall all angry looking, _ugh,_ it just gets me hard thinking about it."

Connor's face was absolutely flaming with embarrassment, and he couldn't even stop himself from throwing a quick glance down to Gavin's crotch at the mention. He quickly shot his gaze back up before Gavin could notice. A sharp, startled laugh escaped his mouth as he let Gavin's words sink in.

"You're shameless."

Gavin was smirking as he played with Connor's fingers between his hands. "The fuck are you talking about? I didn't say anything."

Gavin finally eyed Connor, and his eyes twinkled with mischief. Connor's heart started to beat a thousand times over in his chest as he suddenly wonder what he was about to get himself into with Gavin.

"On the real," Gavin said, and he stopped his fiddling to hold Connor's one hand between both of his. "We're friends. I'm not a jerk anymore … as much; you're not an outcast anymore; so what do you say we do something about this unspoken thing? Because now I know I'm not alone in reading into all those little touches you've been giving me." Gavin blinked as he finished and shook his head to himself. "Fuck me, why do I sound like a sappy bitch declaring his love? I blame you 100%, Connor, for forcing me to sit through so many of those fucking cheesy romance movies you're so into."

Connor narrowed his eyes at the outcast bit, but couldn't help but smile at Gavin's shook face. "They're cute. And, they make me feel things. And look, now we're having our own cute moment, so I think you should be thanking me for showing you how to properly court someone."

Gavin groaned and toss Connor's hand away from himself. "Ugh, don't say shit like that. _Court_? Really?" Connor only shrugged, trying his hardest to stifle his amusement at the situation, and Gavin huffed. "Quit making this so hard for me."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry for teasing," Connor said. "But, I really did find it cute."

He brought his bottom lip between his teeth as he considered Gavin's offer. Although, he really didn't have to think about it at all. They'd been building toward this for nearly 15 years, since they were _fucking_ ten years old. Gavin didn't have the words to express his feelings then and oblivious Connor was faced with the only puzzle in his life that he could never solve. Then, once they did clumsily come to a head at prom, their timing hadn't been right. Over and over, there was always something standing in their way, but Connor had always known they'd been destined for more. That the universe wasn't done with this pair because while there had always been a barrier between them, they'd always found themselves together once more, over and over.

This moment was just fate finally giving them their reward.

Connor swallowed. "Okay."

Gavin turned his wary eyes back on Connor. "'Okay'? Okay, what?"

Connor smiled, and the apprehension slipped away from Gavin's eyes. " _Okay_ , I think it's time we spoke about this unspoken thing."

After a short moment of scrutinization—because Gavin still couldn't tell if Connor was teasing—that playful glint came back into his eyes. "Or, we could just not talk about it, and just … do other things," he said, silently agreeing and already heading toward Connor's mouth for more.

If anyone noticed the two cops pulled over on the side of the road, locked together at the lips as traffic from the highway blared on, no one disturbed them.

They made it home thirty minutes later, and besides the light make-out session in the car, the rest of the night carried on as usual. Connor ordered up some Chinese food from the 24/7 place, and Gavin popped in a movie of his choosing—"something with gun fights and shootouts and fighting, none of that sugary love-fest crap". They changed into their night clothes, which for Gavin was his boxer shorts and a loose tank top, and for Connor was a fully matching plaid pajama set, and settled into the couch with their food to watch the movie.

It was completely normal and something they did often. Connor had the niggling thought in the back of his mind that they still seriously needed to talk about what came next for them, but they could have that talk in the morning, when they weren't so worn out from a full day of work.

Thinking about work brought back what happened with Alice and her father, and Connor bit his lip as he wondered what the little girl was doing right now.

Sneaking a glance at Gavin, he found him fully immersed in the movie. Connor thought for a moment before deciding to briefly grasp Gavin's thigh to get his attention. He immediately got it, Gavin easily turning from the gory movie to turn eyes on Connor.

Connor said, "I'm gonna go make a phone call. Don't eat my food, will you?"

Gavin scoffed and kicked his leg to get Connor's hand off. "Hurry back and maybe you'll have some orange chicken left. That's a strong maybe."

Connor pinched his thigh quickly and jumped from the couch before Gavin could retaliate. Before he left the room completely, he heard Gavin say, "That _maybe_ just dropped to a fucking _no_ , okay? That fucking hurt, asshole."

Connor left the other man's whines behind as he walked out of the apartment with his phone and leaned against the cement wall of the hallway. He knew Hank's phone number like the back of his hand by now, and he dialed it quickly and rested the smartphone against his ear.

Connor hadn't even noticed the time, but before he could hang up and catch him in the morning, Hank picked up on the fifth ring. "Yeah?" Hank said sounding rough and out of breath.

He smiled into the phone, the familiar greeting so impolite. "Did you race to the phone, or what? I would have called right back in the morning."

"Connor, hey," he said, taking a moment to catch his breath.

Connor scrunched his eyebrows up. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, it's just Sumo. Thought it'd be nice to let Alice help me take him for a walk earlier, you know, get them acquainted and such. Poor girl is so damn tiny, and Sumo saw this damn _pigeon_ , and—"

"Oh, no," Connor said, slapping a hand to his cheek. Hank didn't even need to say anymore for Connor to understand what had happened.

"Oooh, yeah. Little sucker ran right from Alice's hand and took off zooming through the park. I only managed to catch him once some guy wrangled him in his arms. I love that dog, I do, but he's a real pain in the ass, sometimes. I just now got done with giving him a bath, and that was a fucking miracle in itself that he let me do it with no sass tonight."

Connor chuckled. "He hates pigeons. Now, I wonder where he gets that irrational fear from?"

Hank huffed sourly from the other line. "Listen here, it is a real thing, it's called—"

"I know, Hank, I know. Listen, I was just calling to check on Alice. How's she doing? Has she spoken much?"

"I've gotten a few smiles from the girl, a few mumbled answers and the like. She's a lot like you were when you first showed up."

That was discouraging. Connor had been scared and shy for months before he and Hank actually bonded. If she was like Connor, then she was no doubt scared out of her mind at being thrust into the care of the gruff, older man.

Connor scratched at his eyebrow with the tip of his finger. "Maybe it's because she's all alone there. When I first arrived, I at least had Kara and Markus to talk to when I was feeling scared. She has no one. No one she can connect with, at least."

"Now, I'm not going out and finding her a sibling just for kicks. If I'm being honest here, I'm not even sure if this something I can take on full time."

Connor paused, letting the words wash over him and run through his mind. "It's too much, isn't it?"

Of course it would be. Hank was getting on in his years, and he was a captain now. He had to give a lot more of his focus to the force, and with Alice being so young and coming from who knew what kind of mental or physical abuse, she needed some attentive caring for—and Hank just couldn't give her that right now.

He'd spent the better part of twenty years caring for kids—including the time before Connor, Markus, and Kara, when it had just been Hank and his first son, Cole. He gave everything over to them: his time, his devotion, his love, and Connor was afraid there was simply no more to give. Alice deserved everything Connor had gotten when he'd first been thrust into this new life with his new family, but Hank didn't seem to be the right person to hand that over.

But, Connor knew someone who could.

Hank kept talking through Connor's thoughts. "A little too much," Hank said, answering Connor's previous question, and he sounded guilty. Guilty that he couldn't provide Alice with what she needed right now. "I don't know what—"

"Talk to Kara."

"What?"

"Call her and tell her to come down to your house and to meet Alice. I still haven't told her about today, and I think she'd be ecstatic to know how well it turned out for Alice. Just give her a call."

He didn't mention his ulterior plans, how he thought once Kara caught sight of the little girl and heard Hank's weary resolve, she'd step in and take over.

He didn't mention this, but he didn't have to. Hank knew Connor. He'd always known him best.

"You know what? Think I'll do just that."

And, he did.

Hank called Kara right after their conversation, and things took off then. Kara immediately fell in love with Alice. And, like how Connor knew she would, she took her home.

Things went smoothly for the female duo. Alice took to Kara's mothering nature immediately, and it wasn't hard to get Alice into a different version of herself; one where she was smiling and making jokes and sneaking little pieces of candy into her room like any normal child would.

Kara officially became Alice's foster mother after the trial Todd had came to an end. He'd been sentenced to ten years in a federal prison, and with Alice's mom out of the picture, the path was clear for Kara to forgo an official adoption within a year.

That first year getting accustomed to having Alice in their lives was a special time for Connor. Alice was actually a vibrant, happy little girl once she was put in the right environment: a loving one, with an uncle who snuck her candy when Kara said no more; with a grandpa who spoiled her even more so than he did the three of them because he didn't have to deal with Alice at nighttime when the sugary effects of the candy he bought for her wore off and she crashed; but, more than that, she had a loving mother now who's number one priority in life was to keep her safe and happy. It was the life a sweet child like Alice deserved.

Having a kid back in their midst turned out to be a good thing for the adults in the family. It gave everyone a reason to get together more often. Hank, Kara, and Connor took days off their jobs to get together and take Alice on mini road trips to all the places Hank had taken them when they were kids. Admittedly, they hadn't taken too many vacations, just to the beach or a few amusement parks. Hank had always been busy, and apparently rounding the three of them up had been more difficult for Hank than Connor remembered, so now, with Alice, they went all the places they wished they could have gone to as children together. To Washington D.C. to see the newborn panda bears at the zoo; to King's Dominion to ride their insanely awesome new roller coaster; to the south to test out the calm waters of Hawaii.

They still hadn't made it to Walt Disney world, but there was still time. It had only been a year since Alice came to live with them, after all.

Currently, Connor was resting on the worn couch in Markus and Simon's cozy living room. They'd just returned from their life overseas a few days ago, and Hank had helped set them up in a shoddy apartment in a sketchy part of Detroit.

When Connor had rolled up in his car, he'd immediately gotten dirty looks from some tenants in the neighborhood. Connor was very familiar with this complex, and not in a good way. He wasn't even wearing his uniform, but as he'd walked through the complex and up the stairs to Markus' door, it was hard not to feel everyone's judgmental gazed trailing his every move, as if they could just tell he was a cop from the way he carried himself. He'd been glad Markus had already unlocked the door for him when he found his apartment.

"No, no, no, don't go— Don't go in the fucking house, man, I swear the zombie is camping in there, he's gonna chop your ass as soon as you— _Goddamn_ it, what did I fucking tell you?"

Connor raised his eyebrows in surprise as he listened to Simon rage over the headset he was yelling into as he moved his thumbs vigorously around the controller in his hand. He'd never seen the calm, diplomatic man get so riled up before, and especially at a _game_?

Honestly, he found it a little disturbing as he continued to listen to Simon and simultaneously watched on the TV screen as Simon ran his character around the map, shooting at a grotesque zombie who was running his way with an axe.

Connor wondered what exactly happened in Paris. He was expecting Markus and Simon to come back with an almost regal air about them because surely there was so much to learn in the city of love and passion, but if anything, they just switched roles. Now, Markus seemed to have a calmer temperament, that angsty, brash way about him having simmered down. It was still there if someone were to rile him up enough, but for the most part, it seemed Simon had had a positive effect on his brother over the years.

Simon, on the other hand, was a bit less shy and lot more outspoken. He was still as diplomatic as ever, but he wasn't afraid to speak out against those he disagreed with. Markus and Simon were on the same level now, so to speak, and Connor secretly adored the way they balanced each other out.

There was one exception to Simon's calm, and that was when it came to video games. According to Markus, Simon had a little meltdown a year back from the internalization he was doing. He thought and thought and thought and spiraled himself down into an abyss Markus couldn't quite reach him at. So, Markus started trying to find ways to de-stress him, and one of those ways was video games.

It seemed to Connor that this tactic was actually doing the opposite of stressing him out and just triggering quick flashes of anger as Simon struggled to stay alive in these quick match games, but Markus said that was the idea. Everyone got frustrated sometimes, and instead of having Simon keep all that bottled up, he figured he could yell at the game and at his friends who didn't mind Simon's bursts of colorful language over the headset.

Connor wasn't going to pretend to understand that logic.

"Who's ready for some family fun bonding time?" Markus said as he came into the living room fully dressed in a suit and tie, looking as handsome as ever in Connor's almost jealous opinion.

Connor popped up from the couch and straightened his own tie as he smoothed out his suit jacket. He felt very stiff, and didn't think he looked half as cool as Markus did.

"Everyone's already on their way to the restaurant. You took 45 minutes to get dressed, and I've had to listen to Simon get angry at the TV for quite some time. My head is—"

"Aww, poor baby, Connor," Markus said placatingly and tried to reach for Connor to cradle his head to his chest as if he were a child, but Connor was quicker. He jumped back out of arms reach as Markus chuckled. "Looking this good isn't effortless, Con, it takes time and care."

Connor huffed. "So, it's fine if I blame you for making our family wait to eat?"

Markus sighed, resigned, fingers connected at the finger tips on his stomach. "So quick to blame."

"Oh, come on, Buddha," Connor said, irritated, and started for the door.

He stopped with his hand on the door handle as he watched Markus chuckle to himself before he leaned down to Simon's ear and whispered something. He then placed a sensual kiss to the skin beneath his ear lobe. Connor's ears reddened.

"See ya, Connor. You should come over more often. Markus talks about you all the time," Simon said in a contrastingly cheerful tone before he abruptly switched to a furious mumbling back into the mic.

Connor would most certainly not make it a habit to come over when Simon was "de-stressing."

On the car ride over to the restaurant Hank had picked out to celebrate Markus' arrival back in Detroit, Connor could see Markus picking at his suit.

"You're gonna pick a hole through your only good suit," Connor said.

"I'm just excited to finally meet Alice," Markus said, and Connor smiled at the fondness laced in his tone. "We've done video calls, but it's not the same. You're not supposed to know your uncle through a screen, you know? When I see her, I told her I was going to pick her up and toss her into the sky. And, she laughed and said she couldn't wait to see me."

Markus was softly smiling unseeingly into the windshield, and Connor knew he was probably imagining that moment. How sweet it must have been to have such a beautiful first meeting with your niece.

Connor didn't have that. He'd picked her up from her old life, and she'd been scared. She had gazed at Connor through fearful eyes and little trust, and it was still a sight that haunted Connor to this day, nearly a year later.

But, he was just glad that Markus wouldn't know that kind of fear from Alice. He wished he could have spared everyone else in their family from that rocky start. He wished Alice could have come into their lives under happier circumstances.

But, Kara, Connor, and Markus hadn't even had that. They'd all come to live with Hank under similar circumstances as Alice, and maybe that was just the way their family worked. They were strong not because they'd been born together and forced together, but because they came from obscurity, from something less that anything else seemed like gold to them. But, it wasn't a false illusion. This family really _was_ the epitome of what happiness could be, and it seemed fitting that Alice should come into their family in a similar way.

Connor sniffed. "Look in the backseat, under the leather jacket. I have something for you because I didn't think you'd remember."

Markus unbuckled his seatbelt as he halfway crawled into the backseat and trifled around. "This is obviously Gavin's," Markus said under his breath, just a tiny hint of disdain as he said Connor's boyfriend's name. Connor could see through the rear view mirror how Markus picked up the black leather jacket between two fingers and tossed it to the floor. Connor rolled his eyes.

Markus flopped back down in his seat, plastic bag in hand as he buckled back up. "What the hell kind of kinky shit are you and Gavin into?" Markus said as he unwrapped the bag and brought out a brand new stuffed rabbit animal and a spiked dog collar.

Connor scoffed as he shook his head to himself. "It's not mine, dummy, it's for Alice."

"And, this?" Markus said, holding up the spiked collar between his thumb and forefinger. "I don't think Alice is going to be putting this to any use. You, on the other hand…" Markus trailed off, and it took a minute for Connor to understand what Markus was trying to say.

" _What_? No! I'm not— Gavin doesn't— That's not mine!"

"It's okay, little brother, don't blow a fuse," Markus said, a smile in his voice as he touched Connor's shoulder. He immediately brushed him off. "Everyone's into their own thing. Simon and I even—"

"Please stop talking before you ruin the last shred of innocence I have," Connor said, and if he wasn't driving right now, he would have closed his eyes and groaned into his hands. "That collar is for Sumo. Hank said something the other day about Sumo's old collar wearing down or something, and so I bought him a new one."

Markus didn't say anything, and when Connor threw glances his way, he caught his brother biting down on a smile as he played with the dog collar in his hands.

"I'm serious! That collar is for Sumo."

"I didn't say anything."

"But, you don't believe me. I can see it in your face."

Markus started laughing then, and Connor snatched up the collar from his hands and chucked it in his own lap. That collar was for Sumo, it really was.

"Thank god we're here," Connor mumbled under his breath as he pulled up to the restaurant parking lot. It wasn't very crowded for the afternoon, which was just the way Connor liked it. Too many people made him anxious, made him feel like he had to keep an eye out for everyone.

Markus took the stuffed rabbit with him as they walked into the restaurant, and as soon as they found the table with Hank, Kara, and Alice, something truly magical happened.

Alice caught sight of Connor first, and she broke into a smile so bright it lit up the dimly lit area they were seated at. He loved his niece, and he thought that they shared a special bond, something only an uncle can share with his niece. It was kind of like having a younger sibling that you actually liked and went out of your way to make smile and laugh, with all the capability of an adult.

Alice's eyes slid over to Markus beside him, and that did it. The eleven year old jumped from her seat and when she reached Markus, he was already leaning down on one knee with his arms ready to catch her. Just as he'd promised, he wrapped his arms tight around the girl and stood tall before swinging them around in a brief circle. Alice was giggling and Markus was grinning from ear to ear, happy that he could actually hold his niece in his arms for the first time.

Alice pulled her head back, eyes bright with excitement. "Remember what you said?"

Markus dropped the stuffed animal from his hand, the plush toy hitting the soft carpet with barely a sound, and gripped beneath her armpits. "Ready?"

Before she could answer, he threw her into the air, so high, higher than Connor ever could because Markus was ripped in a way Connor thought was unfair sometimes. Markus was all strength and muscle and Alice went a good few feet in the air, her soft squeals trailing down, before falling straight back into Markus' waiting hands.

"It's better you did that before she ate, or else _someone_ would be having a tummy ache if you keep on doing that," Kara said as she got up from her seat. "Markus," she breathed happily, because this was the first time Markus had seen Kara since he returned from Paris.

Kara had been out of town for the last few weeks with Alice, off to visit her boyfriend who lived in DC. His name was Luther, and he was also a nurse, like Kara, only he didn't work in the emergency room. He was a part of the staff who took care of the elderly in hospice, feeding them their meals and helping them bathe and laborious work like that.

Funny enough, they'd met at an amusement park one time when Connor and Kara had gotten together to take Alice somewhere fun. Luther had been standing in front of them as they'd waited in line for the carousel, and Alice had started talking with Luther's nephew who had been with him. It pretty much all started there for Kara and Luther, and the two had been instantly smitten with each other.

Markus gazed at his sister when she spoke, and his eyes turned to gooey mush as he carefully set Alice back to the ground. Kara immediately took up the space in his arms as he wrapped his arms around her still tiny frame, her arms holding him around the waist.

It made Connor's heart flip as he watched his siblings reunite. Every time Kara got off the phone with Markus, she always went on about how much she missed him and wished he'd hurry up and get back to Detroit. Connor was right there with her in that respect; his older brother was annoying as hell, but he'd still missed him.

Markus pulled back from Kara and rested a hand on one of her shoulders. "You look beautiful, as always. You have no idea how much I've missed you."

Markus' voice was rough with choked back emotion, and it finally dawned on Connor that he hadn't actually seen his brother for three whole years. Ever since their college graduation when Markus and Simon took off for Paris and Connor had begun training in the academy.

Three whole years has passed without seeing his brother, hugging him in his arms, going out bowling, or just calling him up in the middle of the night to talk—because time zones were a bitch. He tried not to think about it when Markus first left, and Connor had done such a good job at that that he actually forgot to think about how his brother was on the other side of the world.

But, now Markus was here. He was _here_ —with Kara in his arms, with Hank watching them with eyes so soft they mirrored Connor's, and with the newest addition to their family watching the rest of them with a bright, happy, child-like smile on her face.

This was the family he'd made. Connor came from nothing, just a little orphaned boy who didn't know what love was, what _family_ was, until he was lucky enough to meet a man who happened to have a lot of love to give.

Connor didn't think there were enough words to describe how grateful he was to Hank—to his _dad._ The man who singlehandedly raised three orphaned children by himself and managed to pave the way for them to become their best selves, to be the best adults they could have been.

If he hadn't left that orphanage, Connor knew for a fact that he would not be where he was today: in a job that he loved, in a relationship with a man that he loved, and here right now, celebrating the return of his brother with the family that he loved.

As they all took their seats and began chattering amongst themselves, mostly directing the conversation to Markus and grilling him about everything he'd been doing in Paris and about the prospective job he had waiting for him at the local museum, Connor thought about how this was the first time since Alice joined the Anderson clan that his entire family was together in one setting, the first of many times the Andersons would get together for family occasions.

Then, he thought about the rest of the night. How after they finished dinner, they'd all head back to Hank's because he wanted everyone to spend the night at his house for old times sake. Markus will probably let Alice sit on his shoulders as he zoomed them in and throughout the house. Connor will bring in all the leftovers from their dinner and put them away with Hank. Then, after they played a few board games with Alice, Kara will probably tuck Alice into her old bed when it's time to go to sleep and give her a kiss on her forehead.

Alice was fond of bedtime stories, and Connor came prepared tonight with a story Gavin had told him about, some story his mom used to read to him when he was little about a knight who fought his way across a land of monsters to get to the one he loved. Connor would tell this story to Alice tonight, keep that particularly story alive by passing it on to Alice.

Stories, like life, were a funny thing. They had a way of coming full circle and making you see how life was just a big adventure, a butterfly effect full of little twists and turns that changed the outcome every time, made endings feel like new beginnings.

Everybody had a story. A story about their life, how they came to be, how they ended up in whatever situation they ended up in, and all the little, quiet moments in between that gave life and purpose to that story.

Kara had a story, Markus had a story, Hank and Alice had stories, Gavin and Simon had stories. But, as much as these people played a role in Connor's life and helped to shape him into the hopeful, proud man he was today, this wasn't their story.

His name was Connor Anderson, and this was his story.

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 **So, this is it! You guys, I had so much fun with this fic, and its my first multi chaptered fic that I've actually completed. The response to this story was heartwarming and it made me so happy that so many of you enjoyed and laughed and cried with this fic because I was the same way! I'm def gonna miss this little family.  
**

 **Thanks again to everyone who read and fav'd and reviewed, it means so much to see such positive feedback, and it made writing this story ten times as fun knowing that you guys also enjoyed it. So, thank you again and peace out! :)**


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